The Boy In The Forest
by DannyFirebender
Summary: The story follows the original A:TLA storyline, the only difference being a new Firebending OC and whatever changes to the plot he may cause. Pairings will spring up as they occur since stories like this flow naturally. Rated K for possible upcoming suggestive themes, nothing to tell mommy about though.
1. Chapter 1 The Boy In The Forest

Chapter 1 – The Boy in The Forest

"Are you sure you know where you're going Sokka?" Katara asked, irritated.  
Sokka's face contorted with confusion as he turned the map around in his hands, hoping the right path would come clear to him. "Yyyyeeeaahhh, sure I do Katara. I'm an expert Water Tribe navigator."  
Katara shook her head and Aang stopped quickly as the path they were following led right over a cliff. Sokka bumped into his friend, "What are you stopping for Aang? I'm telling you the-" Fear and shock caught Sokka's breath short as he saw the steep decline to a rocky death below.  
Katara growled in anger at her brother who was still transfixed by the idea that he had almost walked blindly to his demise.  
Aang sat down with a thud and put his chin to his hands, "We've been walking, flying, and swimming for hours." He groaned and Momo chattered in agreement, curling up on Aang's head.  
"Well we can thank the 'Master Water Tribe' navigator for his incredible path finding skills." Katara snapped sarcastically, sitting herself on the ground too.  
Sokka, regaining his confidence, puffed his chest and turned to them. "T-this cliff is obviously new! Made by some- uhh… renegade Earthbender! Yeah, that's it!" He retorted desperately, "Don't worry every one, I will guide us out of this forest without the map." He declared confidently, tossing the map over the cliff.  
"How? All these trees and bushes look the same." Aang pointed out.  
"Not exactly! See, that bush over there is moving." Sokka said, a confident grin appearing on his face momentarily, before disappearing after realizing what he had said. In a flash, he had his boomerang out, Aang readied his staff, and Katara had a ball of water ready to go. The braced themselves and stared at the rustling bush, waiting for the worst. What they saw was no fearsome beast or Fire Nation assassin; it was a teenager who collapsed in front of them wordlessly. Katara and Aang dropped the water and staff and ran to the boy's side. Sokka, however, was not moved.  
"Get away from him, you don't know who that is!" He shouted.  
Katara turned to him, "He's a kid who needs our help! So put down your boomerang and get over here!" She snapped. Sokka instinctively did as he was told, but was none too happy about it. The boy's eyes flickered open slightly, squinting as he scanned the group. "Please…food…water…anything." He croaked.  
Katara bended some water from her canteen into the teen's mouth and Aang pulled out a small sag of snacks he kept for emergencies. They nourished him slowly, not wishing to overwhelm his empty stomach. Finally, he gained the strength to open his eyes fully and sit up, albeit with the assistance of a tree trunk behind him.  
"What's your name?" Katara asked him.  
"...Daniel." He replied cautiously.  
"We're not going to hurt you, we wanna help." Aang said.  
Daniel shifted his attention to the young Airbender, "Those tattoos… you're an Airbender." Daniel said slowly, as if he had great doubt it his assumption.  
Aang nodded, "Yeah that's me! These are my friends, she's Katara, and the guy with the club is Sokka."  
Daniel regarded them each with a nod and a smile, "I can never repay you for your kindness." He said solemly.  
"It was nothing. Tell us a little bit about yourself." Katara said in her motherlike tone.  
Daniel shifted uncomfortably, "I…I'm a wanderer. Nothing else more."  
Sokka walked over to him and examined him closely, "Hmm don't like sharing your past eh? Veeerrryyy suspicious, how do we know you aren't some spy sent by Prince Zuko to capture Aang?" He blurted out.  
Katara cast him a dirty look, but Daniel smiled. "I respect your suspicion. In a position like yours', I would feel the same way. I can assure you I am no assassin, " Daniel said, "And if I was, I would most likely be dying of embarrassment right about now." He said, chuckling slightly.  
Katara and Aang smiled, but Sokka still was not entirely convinced. However, he sheathed his club and sat down with them.  
"So what's our next move?" Katara asked them as she bended them all cups of water.  
"Well, it's getting dark out and we've been flying all day. You need a rest, don't you buddy?" Aang said with a smile, stroking the bison's nose. Appa yawned in agreement, causing Aang to chuckle.  
"Okay so we set up camp here. But what about _him_?" Sokka hissed, motioning to Daniel.  
The tall, blonde teen slowly got to his feet, causing Katara to get up to assist but was stopped by Daniel holding his hand up in protest. "I know my presence here will be a concern for Sokka and I hold nothing against him for being cautious." He was cut off by Aang using his Airbending to jump into the air and land behind him. blocking his path.  
"Daniel, you are our guest. I apologize on behalf of Sokka for his rudeness. We would like you to stay with us for the night, but if you were to share some of your past and where you come from, I'm sure Sokka would feel a bit more relaxed." With that last part of the sentence, Aang and Katara shot Sokka a 'shut up' glance, forcing him to patiently hear what Daniel has to say.  
Daniel thought for a bit, and nodded. "Very well, I believe I can trust the Avatar and his companions to share my story with." He eased himself back down against the tree and took a deep breath.  
"My name is Daniel, I hail from the Fire Nation colony of Yu Dao. Before you kill me, I can assure you I am no Fire Nation loyalist. I am merely from a family that found itself in the colony years ago."  
Sokka pointed his boomerang at Daniel, "Aha! So you're from the Fire Nation! How do we know you're not gonna report our location to the soldiers and get yourself a grand award from the Fire Lord?"  
Daniel sighed, "This is why I didn't want to say anything… Well I am not from the Fire Nation. My family is composed of Earth Kingdom citizens who are forced to serve the Fire Nation occupation forces. Obviously I ran away from home because I had no desire to have a life of servitude to fat Fire Nation lapdogs."  
Sokka's looked him over, "If you're lying, you're good at it." He finally said.  
"I am not lying. I have a price on my head since I am 'owned' by a Fire Nation family in Yu Dao but ran away. You can check most Fire Nation bounty boards and you'll most likely find a poster describing me." Daniel explained.  
"I believe him." Katara said.  
"Me too," agreed Aang.  
The three of them looked at Sokka. "Ooooookay I guess I believe him too. You can keep him." He replied, defeated.  
Daniel, Katara, and Aang smiled. "Thank you Sokka. If you don't mind, I would like to travel with you for awhile. I want to repay my debt to you and help the Avatar kick those Fire Nation scum out of this land." Daniel said.  
Aang bowed to him, "We'd be happy to have you. But forget about that 'debt' you keep mentioning. You owe nothing to us."  
Daniel sighed, "Thank you. "

**This story is basically gonna stick to the same chain of events in A:TLA so don't call me out on the story following the same path. Certain things will be changed due to the OC's involvement but this is sticking to the original plot. Please remember to leave a review on things you liked and things you didn't :)**


	2. Chapter 2 Kyoshi Island

Chapter 2 – Kyoshi Island

Daniel slowly woke up the bright sun in his eyes. He winced and raised his arm to shield them as he sat himself up. He looked around and saw Katara sitting by the fire stirring a pot hanging over it, Aang and Sokka still fast asleep.  
"Good morning." Daniel said quietly, as to not startle her or awaken the others. Katara looked up from the pot and smiled, "Good morning Daniel, feeling better?"  
Daniel smiled and nodded, "Yes I am, thanks to you and your friends. Need any help?" He asked.  
Katara shook her head, "No thanks, breakfast is almost done. I just need it to simmer a little longer."  
Daniel slowly got to his feet, using the tree behind him as support. He stood straight, shakily, but straight. Katara saw him get up and got to her feet as well, walking over to him.  
"Everything feel okay?" She asked, holding onto his other arm.  
Daniel nodded, "Yeah, a little stiff and sore here and there but at least I can hold myself up."  
"Good, that means you can come over and get your breakfast." Katara said and led him over to the pot. He knelt down and held out his bowl as she poured two scoops of the stew into the waiting container. At the sound of the stew hitting the cup, Sokka and Aang rose up and sat at attention as if the sound was that of a war drum.  
"I smell food." Sokka stated simply.  
Aang and Sokka rushed over to the pot where Katara and Daniel were sitting.  
"Here you are Aang, I made sure to cook your vegetable stew separate and here's your meat stew Sokka." She said sweetly.  
The two mumbled a "thank you" in between bites and gulps of food. Katara rolled her eyes and Daniel chuckled at the display as the group finished their meal. When they were done, they stacked the bowls in a tower next to the now-dying fire and enjoyed the morning air.  
"I supposed I'll go wash these dishes before we have to pack up and move." Katara said as she rose to her feet.  
Daniel got up too, "No no, you cooked us a delicious breakfast very early this morning. I'll handle the dishes." He said, picking up the leaning tower of dinnerware.  
"Why thank you Daniel." Katara said with a smile.  
Sokka and Aang looked over as Daniel walked past and their jaws dropped. "HOW TALL ARE YOU?!" They gasped together, only getting a good look at his figure now as he's back to full strength.  
"Six feet, four inches." Daniel replied simply, the question clearly being no stranger to him.  
"And HOW old are you again?" Sokka asked, still stunned.  
"Sixteen. Don't worry; I have no plans on stepping on any of you." Daniel said with a smirk as he walked to a small pond a few yards away.  
"I like him so far." Aang said with a smile.  
"Me too, he's very helpful." Katara added.  
"A bit too nice for my liking, but atleast he isn't a bender so I could take him if he's a spy or something." Sokka said with a shrug.  
Katara sighed, "Why do you feel like everyone who isn't us is a spy?" She asked.  
Sokka shrugged again, "I'm naturally suspicious."  
They were interrupted by a roar from Appa.  
"Looks like Appa's ready to hit the skies." Aang observed. The three began to clean up their campsite and were in the middle of doing so when Daniel returned. "Need any help?" He asked.  
"No thanks, you did your part when you washed those dishes." Katara said, taking the cleaned bowls from him and stuffing them into her pack.  
"As you wish…so how do I get on this thing? Is there a special way so I don't hit him?" Daniel asked, motioning toward Appa.  
"Just don't step on his face. There's really no 'wrong' way other than that." Aang explained.  
Daniel went to Appa's side and stroked his fur, "You trust me, big guy?" Daniel asked soothingly.  
Appa roared in approval and Daniel took it as a sign to climb up. He settled himself on the saddle and looked down as the other three climbed up. Aang went to Appa's head and took the reins, "Yip yip!" He said and the bison took off. Daniel leaned back a bit, looking over the edges of the saddle to the shrinking earth below. "Well I'll be." He said under his breath.  
"Okay so, I got another map. This one should be totally accurate." Sokka announced, pulling the parchment from his pack and pinning it to the saddle. Katara and Daniel huddled around it.  
"We're here, and we gotta keep heading up north if we plan to get to the North Pole for your Waterbending training, Aang." Sokka instructed, but Aang was distracted. "Aang? Did you hear me?" Sokka asked again.  
"I heard you Sokka, but we're making a quick detour!" Aang shouted and tugged Appa's reins hard-right.  
"No. No more detours, we have to get to the North Pole!" Sokka commanded.  
"Trust me, you'll love this." Aang said excitedly as Appa landed on a sandy beach.  
"Where are we?" Katara asked, looking around as Aang hopped off Appa.  
"We're on Kyoshi Island and THAT'S why!" Aang shouted, pointing toward the water as an enormous koi fish breached in the air. Aang stripped down to his underwear and ran toward the water as his three companions dismounted the large bison.  
"What do you plan on doing exactly?" Daniel shouted as Aang swam away.  
"I'm gonna ride one!" Aang shouted back and dove underwater.  
"Aang! Be careful!" Katara shouted just as another koi burst from the water, this time with Aang on its back.  
"Yeeeaaahhahaha!" Aang shouted, clinging to the fin of his mount as two others took flanking positions around him. Katara shook her head and smiled when Daniel grabbed her shoulder, "Katara, look." He said.  
"What? I don't see anything different." Katara said.  
"Yeah me neither." Replied Sokka.  
"There were two koi behind him… now there's one." Daniel said slowly.  
Just as Katara and Sokka turned around to reassess the scene, they saw a monstrous dorsal fin following behind Aang and the koi.  
"Oh Agni!" Daniel breathed, "Aang behind you!" Daniel shouted.  
"What?" Aang shouted back.  
"There's something in the water!" Katara replied, pointing behind Aang.  
Just as Aang turned around, the remaining koi next to him was pulled underwater causing Aang's eyes to widen with fear. Just as his koi is pulled under, Aang jumps off and sprints across the water with the use of Airbending back to the shore, quickly putting his clothes back on.  
"Not fun, that was NOT fun." He said over and over again.  
Daniel glared out at the sea as a large grey eel burst from the water and stared them down. Aang, Sokka, and Katara's faces went white with horror as the monster stared down on them. To their amazement, Daniel stood his ground and kept the glare on the eel. Eventually the monster sunk back down into the deeps and vanished from sight.  
Daniel turned to the amazed group, opened his mouth and said, "Only the dead can know peace from the fear I just experienced."  
The group laughed as Daniel shakily walked over to lean against a large wooden pole. "Hey, this isn't natural." Daniel observed, stroking his hand over the clear cut marks of a blade that had whittled down the edges into a rounded curve. Suddenly, a rope fired out from the bushes and trapped Daniel's hand against the pole.  
"It's an ambush!" He cried out, but it was too late. His friends had been incapacitated. He watched helplessly as the assailants tied them to the pole. They were female, wearing armored kimonos and vibrant face paint.  
"Pfft, these aren't warriors. They're girls." Sokka remarks with a laugh.  
"Repeat that again, scum! Maybe I'll throw you to the Unagi and watch it tear you to pieces!" Their leader hissed.  
"Please excuse my brother, he's a chauvinist idiot. He makes remarks like that all the time." Katara chimed in, defending her brother from an early grave.  
The warriors formed up behind their leader as an elderly man approached the kids.  
"Who are you, and why have you come to Kyoshi Island?" The old man barked.  
"We just came to ride the giant koi, that's all." Aang said.  
"Oh? How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?!"  
Daniel sighed, "This again? It wasn't twelve hours ago that I was being accused of the same thing by you guys."  
"Kyoshi Island has been able to stay out of the war thus far and I would like to keep it that way!" The old man barked.  
Aang's head perked up, "Hey, this island is named after Avatar Kyoshi right? I know her!"  
The leader of the warriors stepped forward, "That's impossible! Avatar Kyoshi has been dead for centuries!"  
"Well I don't actually KNOW her, but I guess you can say she's a part of me. You see, I'm kinda the Avatar." Aang said sheepishly, knowing they live or die based on the reactions of their captors.  
The commotion brought out the whole village to the site, "Mayor Oyaji, what's going on?" One of the villagers called out.  
"This boy claims he is the Avatar, and these children defend his claim."  
The village roared in disapproval, "Impossible! He insults Avatar Kyoshi's memory! Throw them all to the unagi!"  
Daniel turned to Aang, "You might wanna give them a glimpse of your magic tricks." He whispered from the side of his mouth.  
Aang smiled, "Oh yeaahh." In an instant, Aang jumped out of the ropes with the use of his Airbending, much to the awe of the villagers. "He really IS the Avatar!"  
Cheers, murmurs of doubt and murmurs of amazement quickly spread throughout the town and the group was removed from their bondage. What they did not realize, however, was the word of the Avatar's return spread much farther than the small hamlet of Kyoshi Island.  
On a Fire Nation ship off the coast of southeast Earth Kingdom…  
"Prince Zuko, the Avatar has been sighted in the small town on Kyoshi Island." General Iroh said as he entered his nephew's quarters.  
The prince slowly opened his eyes from his meditation, "Tell the helmsman to set a course for Kyoshi Island…"

**Yeah I know, there are a few inconsistencies with events or dialogue in this version of the plot. Unfortunately, I can't remember every detail from the episodes I watched a year or two ago so please understand the slight faults in accuracy. Thanks! And don't forget to leave a review :)**


	3. Chapter 3 Like Wild Fire

The village bustled excitedly with the news of the Avatar's return. The Gaang, being treated as honored guests, are taken to a village-standard of a "luxurious" house to stay in and presented with treats and sweets of all kinds.  
"Thank you very much, this is very delicious." Aang said in between bites. The villager who delivered the goods bowed to him, "It was an honor, Avatar. Please just ask if you require anything else." With that, the village left. Katara took a few more bites of food and looked at Sokka and Daniel, who sat on the other side of the room taking no part in the feast.  
"What's wrong Sokka? Daniel?" She asked.  
Sokka rolled over, "I don't wanna talk about it." He grumbled.  
"I'm just not into sweets." Daniel said with a shrug.  
"Is your issue because you were beaten by a bunch of girls?" Katara asked Sokka sassily.  
With this, Sokka rolled over and glared daggers at his sister, "NO. They surprised me okay? That's all!"  
Katara and Aang laughed, "Sure, Sokka. Whatever you say."  
With a growl, Sokka got to his feet and stomped out of the room. Aang went to put another bite of food into his mouth when he was interrupted by a squeal from the door, "IT'S HIM! IT'S AANG!"  
The three turned to the door and saw a large group of girls standing there, eyes sparkling and looking at Aang expectantly.  
Aang smirked confidently and shrugged, "Sorry Katara and Danny, my public awaits." He strutted out the door, much to the excitement of the crowd.  
Daniel and Katara looked eachother and shook their heads, "Oh brother." Katara said, disgusted.  
Daniel got up and offered her his hand, "Come on, let's go see the town."  
Katara smiled and accepted it, getting up from shrinking feast, "You're right. We need some supplies anyway."  
The two walked out of the house just in time to see Sokka go into the Kyoshi Warriors' training room.  
"Uh oh, this could get messy." Daniel said with concern.  
Katara rolled her eyes and laughed, "Ha! He'll just get beat again." She said with mock sweetness.  
Daniel chuckled, "That's what I'm afraid of. He'll be depressed AND snapped in two."  
Sokka walked into the room and was quietly impressed with what he saw. Each warrior was in perfect, synchronized form with their leader. He raised his hand up, "Heyy uh excuse me." He said coyly.  
Their leader turned and looked at him, "Oh it's you. What do you want?" She asked, forcing some respect into her tone due to the knowledge he was one of the Avatar's companions.  
"My name's Sokka, and I just came by to see how training is going. I mean, those moves are nice but…" He trailed off with a smirk, looking off to the side as if he was their superior.  
The leader looked to the other warriors and smiled, causing the warriors to giggle.  
"My name's Suki, and I'm so glad my warriors' fighting style is worth your trip here. Mind showing us some of YOUR moves so we can get a better of idea of how to do it right?" She asked innocently, batting her eyelashes and causing the warriors to giggle more.  
Sokka took a deep breath and stated confidently, "Weeellll okay, but you might wanna stand back a bit, I don't wanna hurt you too much."  
Sokka and Suki assumed their fighting stances, but Sokka had charged in almost instantly and was on the floor just as quickly, causing another eruption of laughs from the audience of women.  
Sokka slowly got to his feet and stretched out a bit, "I was just g-going easy on you that time, to see what you got." He bluffed.  
Suki tilted her head to the side, "Oh? Well give me all you've got or this wouldn't be fair."  
Sokka charged again with an enraged roar. In a flash, quicker than Sokka's mind could process what had happened, he was hopping shabbily on one leg with his hand and other foot tied together. He collapsed to the ground and looked with a very humiliated expression at the women, "Come back anytime for another 'demonstration'." Suki said mockingly. After being untied, Sokka left humiliated with his head down out of the room.  
Meanwhile, Katara and Daniel had collected a hefty load of supplies at the market, where they got very generous discounts that Katara was hesitant about accepting.  
"Don't worry Katara, these people want us to take these supplies not for our own good, but for theirs as well. Aang is a reincarnation of their founder and hero, by serving him they feel they are indirectly serving her which is a great honor." Daniel explained, soothing Katara's doubts.  
"Well, I guess you're right. I just feel bad about buying so much." She said, looking over the many baskets of food and other necessities they had accumulated, "I just don't know how we'll get it all back to the room in one trip."  
Hearing a commotion, they turned and saw Aang running down the road, his fan club in tow.  
Katara's face brightened, "Good, he can help us! Hey Aang, mind helping Daniel and I carry these supplies back to the room?" She asked  
Aang shook his head, "Sorry, gotta take the girls for a ride on Appa. You should come too!"  
Katara's face instantly turned to one of anger, "You go ahead. Have fun." She snapped, turning and picking up a basket of food.  
Aang was put off by her tone, "You're just jealous I'm getting all this attention." He said accusingly.  
Daniel stiffened in unison with Katara, knowing full well Aang just sparked a rage that was more fearsome than the unagi itself.  
"I AM NOT JEALOUS. I AM JUST SO SICK OF YOU ACTING SO HIGH AND MIGHTY BECAUSE A BUNCH OF LITTLE GIRLS HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU." She shouted.  
Aang was caught off guard for a moment by the outburst, but regained his composure and went to reply when Daniel stepped between them.  
"Enough. Go on Aang, I'll help Katara with this stuff." Daniel said, picking up four baskets, putting two on each arm.  
Aang smiled, "Thanks Daniel! Come on girls!" Aang and his entourage took off toward Appa's landing area.  
"Why did you do that?! He needs to answer for his arrogance!" Katara asked, flabbergasted.  
Daniel sighed, "He's too confident right now with all the special attention he's getting. Trying to bring him back down to earth is a fool's errand. Besides, we can carry these baskets ourselves, the house is only down the road."  
Katara still looked unconvinced by Daniel's reasoning as she picked up two more baskets. Daniel looked at her and smiled, "He'll calm down when he realizes his ego won't fit on Appa."  
Katara giggled and the two walked back to the house. Just as they entered, they ran into Sokka limping out.  
"I thought you were with your favorite warriors?" Katara teased.  
Sokka gave her a tired look, "Not in the mood." He sighed and walked past the two, causing Daniel and Katara to laugh.  
Sokka walked once again into the Kyoshi warrior dojo and approached Suki.  
"Oh look girls, look who's back for another lesson." Suki said with a smirk.  
Sokka got on his knees and bowed to her, "I apologize for offending you earlier, it would be an honor to train under you."  
Suki and the other warriors were caught off guard by his sudden submission. She considered it for a moment and replied, "Very well, but if you desire to train with us you must follow all of our traditions."  
Sokka looked up at her and nodded quickly, "Of course, of course."  
Suki gave him a mischievous smile, "And I mean ALL of them."  
Back at the house, Daniel and Katara had been sorting the newly acquired supplies out and making preparations for their eventual departure. Daniel looked up and something caught his eye.  
"That's a very finely crafted necklace. Where did you get it?" He asked.  
Katara looked down and tenderly touched the jewelry on her neck, "It was my mother's. It's a Water Tribe engagement necklace."  
"It is beautiful. Your mother must love you very much to have trusted you with such a precious object."  
Katara looked off to the side, "My mother has passed on, this is all I have left of her." She said softly.  
Daniel stiffened and his face turned apologetic, "I-I'm sorry. I had no idea…"  
Katara cut him short, "No no, it's okay. I've gotten used to it."  
Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder, "I can't say I know what it's like to lose a parent, but I know what it's like to grow up with just one. It is no mystery to me how you're so strong."  
Katara shed a tear, "I miss her." She said with a quivering voice.  
Daniel got up and sat himself next to her, prompting her to lean into his shoulder. He reached his arm around and placed his hand gently on her arm. "When did it happen?"  
Katara wiped another tear away turned her face from against his shoulder so he could hear her. "When I was just a little girl. It was during a Fire Nation raid. I tried to get my dad to help, but we didn't get to her in time."  
Daniel stroked her arm comfortingly, "She must've been strong, just like you. She may have only been with you for a short time, but it's clear you learned much from her whether you see it or not. I bet she's watching you right now, and is so proud that her daughter is companion to the Avatar and is going to save the world some day."  
Katara looked up at him and smiled. He hesitantly brought his thumb up and wiped the tears away from her watery eyes.  
"Thank you, thank you so much." Katara said, the quivering sadness slowly leaving her voice. She could not quite put her finger on it, but something about him was warm. Not just his words, but…HE was. She felt as if she was huddled up next to her home's fire back in the South Pole, waiting for her father to come back from hunting, carrying a big haul to have cooked in her mother's secret recipe for stew. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. They both turned, startled, to see Aang leaning in the door frame.  
" Hey Katara, the girls are gonna watch me ride the unagi. It's gonna be pretty dangerous." He said nonchalantly.  
At this, Katara's previous anger at him returned, "Have fun." She snapped, turning back to the supplies and making herself look busy.  
"Aang don't be stupid." Daniel said, getting up in concern.  
"How is it stupid? I can ride it no problem. It just caught me off guard last time, that's all."  
Daniel turned to Katara, "Katara, don't you have anything to say about this?" He asked, almost pleading for her intervention.  
"Nope." She stated simply.  
"Kay, bye then." Aang marched out.  
Daniel sighed and looked down at Katara, whose expression had changed to one of worry.  
"Come on, let's go after him." Daniel helped her up and the two left.  
Aang and his fan club had already reached the beach and Aang had begun walking into the water. Just as Katara was about to walk out onto the beach to get him, Daniel pulled her to the side and motioned "wait" with his mouth. The two sat and observed for several minutes, not seeing a single sign of the unagi.  
"Aangy we're bored! When's the unagi gonna get here?" Koko, the apparent leader of the group of girls whined.  
"It'll be here any minute, I'm sure of it!" Aang called back, desperation in his voice.  
The afternoon sun began to turn to an orange, signaling the prelude to evening.  
"Aang we gotta go, it's getting late!" Koko hollered as her and the other girls began walking back to the town.  
"Wait don't go! It'll here any minute!" Aang shouted after them, but it was too late they were out of earshot.  
"Let's go get him." Daniel said and he and Katara got up from their hiding place and walked out onto the beach.  
"Hey you guys came!" Aang cried, unable to hold back his happiness.  
"We just needed to make sure you didn't get hurt." Katara sighed sheepishly.  
"You do care." Aang smiled.  
"Get out of there before you get sick ya crazy kid!"  
Aang swam toward them with a huge grin, "Coming!"  
Daniel's eyes widened, "LOOK OUT!"  
Aang couldn't hear him in time, and right below him the unagi burst from the water. Caught by surprise, Aang was barely able to grasp onto one of the unagi's whiskers, but his hold was weak. The unagi shook and roared, swirling its head around wildly. Finally Aang could hold on no longer and was tossed into the air, landing hard in the water. When he rose to the surface, he was unconscious.  
"AANG!" Daniel and Katara shouted in unison. Katara ran into the water, swimming as fast as she could to the young boy. Just as she got him in her arms, she saw the dorsal fins rise from the water again several yards away and make a beeline for her. In a panic, Katara tried to speed their escape by using her Waterbending to propel her backwards towards the shore. The unagi was too fast and gained on her in almost an instant. It rose from the water and roared, staring down at its hopeful next meal. Just as Katara believed it was over and braced herself for the inevitable, something happened. The unagi roared and shook its face as if a load of sand was hurled into its eyes. Katara use the distraction to her advantage and continued propelling herself to the shore and finally reached it. Daniel took Aang out of Katara's arms and laid him down behind a rock. Just as Katara begins to assist him, Daniel pulls her to the ground covering Aang.  
"What are you-" She began, but Daniel covered her mouth with one hand and pointed over the rock with the other. She slowly rose and peeked out only to have a look of horror on her face. Fire Nation troops were marching down the road towards the village.  
So much for their hundred-year peace streak, Daniel thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4 Fire With Fire

Chapter 4 – Fire With Fire

After the troops pass, Katara finally deems it safe enough to sit up. She waterbends the water that had settled in Aang's lungs out through his mouth, causing him to cough.  
"Ughh…Katara…Daniel…I have some advice for you…" He choked weakly.  
"And that is…?" Daniel asked as he helped Aang to his feet.  
"Don't ride the unagi…"  
Katara and Daniel smile.  
"Quickly, we gotta get back to the village and engage the Firebenders!" Daniel said hastily.  
Aang and Katara nod in agreement and the three run off toward the village.  
The Kyoshi warrior training session is interrupted as Mayor Oyaji bursts into the room, "Quick girls! Firebenders are at our doorstep, prepare for battle!"  
Sokka, dressed in full Kyoshi warrior attire, raises his hand in protest, "Hey wait I'm not a gi-" but it cut off with Suki grabbing his hand and leading the Kyoshi warriors into battle. The Fire Nation soldiers rode rhinos through the town, blasting fire at anything that moved.  
"Where is the Avatar?!" shouted a fully armored Prince Zuko.  
Before anyone replied, he and his soldiers were tackled off their mounts by a united stealth attack by the Kyoshi warriors. Zuko watched as his men were caught off guard and beaten to the ground. Suki and a few other warriors surrounded Zuko and spread their fans. Zuko let out an angry grunt and spun around, making an area-wide firebending kick which sent Suki and her warriors to the ground.  
"Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you," Zuko said and turned to his men who were getting up off the ground in a daze, "BURN HIM OUT!"  
At this order, the soldiers began lighting the homes and market stalls on fire. Aang, Daniel, and Katara arrived just as Zuko executed the order.  
"Katara, you and Daniel get everybody to safety. I'll handle Zuko." Aang ordered. The pair complied and ran off to round up the villagers. Zuko turned and saw Aang, standing alone in the middle of the road.  
"There you are…" He hissed. Zuko stepped forward and sent a volley of fire toward Aang. Aang dodged it just in time and sent a blast of air down to Zuko, who crossed his arms over his upper body and braced himself against the attack. Aang sprung into the air and pulled out his glider to make a counter-attack, but from his aerial view he saw the damage. Houses and markets burned, and worst of all, the statue of Avatar Kyoshi was ablaze as well. Reluctantly, he changed course and went to find Katara.  
"Quick, get inside!" Katara was yelling to the children who sought refuge in the only stone building in the village.  
Aang landed behind her, "The village is destroyed…" He said sadly.  
"We gotta leave, Zuko will follow us and leave this town alone if we go now!" Katara urged.  
Aang thought for a moment and sighed, "You're right."  
"You two go find Sokka and get to Appa, I'll hold off the soldiers." Daniel said.  
"But you can't even bend and you're only one man!" Katara said with concern.  
"You let me handle it." With that, Daniel ran off down an alleyway back to the main road.  
Katara went to go after him, but was stopped by Aang, "You heard him. The quicker we get Sokka and prepare to leave, the shorter he has to hold his own out there."  
"I guess you're right."  
The two ran off to where the Kyoshi warriors had taken cover.  
"Quick Sokka we gotta go!" Aang cried, seeing Sokka crouched next to Suki behind a house.  
"No! We can't leave them!" Sokka shouted.  
"If we leave, Zuko will follow us and leave these people alone!" Katara retorted.  
Sokka sighed, "Okay okay, I'll be there in a second."  
Sokka turned to Suki as Katara and Aang went to get Appa, "Before I go, I wanted to say I'm sorry."  
Suki looked confused, "For what?"  
"For treating you like a girl when I should've treated you like a warrior."  
"I am warrior," She began and leaned in, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "but I'm a girl too."  
Sokka stared at her for a moment, his face flushed.  
"Now go! We'll hold them…off?" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Daniel walk into the middle of the road. Sokka peeked up and saw it too and although shocked, ran back to Appa to see what was going on.  
"What is Daniel doing?!" He cried when he reached Katara and Aang.  
He did not get an answer, but he saw quickly made him forget he even asked.  
"Hey!" Daniel barked at Zuko.  
Zuko squinted his eyes and glared at him, "What's this? The Avatar can't do his own fighting?"  
Daniel smirked, "The Avatar can hardly be bothered with the likes of you."  
Zuko growled, "Do you know who I am?! I am Prince Zuko, crown prince of the Fire Nation who-"  
"Who is acting like a common uncultured savage." Daniel finished for him.  
In a rage, Zuko kicked a mighty stream of fire directly at Daniel. Katara gasped and Aang screamed at him to move, but he stood his ground. Just as he felt the heat of the flame, Daniel reached his arms out in a triangular form right in the path of the fire. To the shock of everyone who watched, the fire split at its center and shot to each side of him.  
Zuko halted his attack and his eyes widened, "You're a Firebender?" He breathed in astonishment.  
Daniel took advantage of his shock and stomped his foot into the ground, fire collecting at the impact point. He raised his leg and kicked the concentrated inferno at his opponent. Zuko raised his arms to block the blast, but only succeeded to a degree as the force sent him to the ground. Just as Daniel was being surrounded by Zuko's landing party, Appa landed beside him and with a roar slammed his tail into the ground, knocking the assailants back.  
"Quick, get on!" Aang shouted.  
Daniel clamored up into the saddle and the sky bison took flight. Zuko slowly got to his feet and shook his head, looking up at the fleeing teens.  
"He's escaping! Everyone back to the ship!" He ordered. The soldiers and Zuko quickly abandoned their attack and ran for their vessel.  
"Why didn't you ever tell us you were a Firebender?" Katara asked Daniel, who was still panting from his fight.  
"As you can imagine, Firebenders aren't exactly the most welcome guests of the Earth Kingdom." He replied.  
Katara smiled, "Well be that as it may, you're a welcome addition here."  
Daniel gave a small bow, "Thank you."  
Aang looked troubled and sat facing the burning town.  
"Aang you did the right thing, we needed to leave or Zuko would've destroyed it all." Katara said.  
Wordlessly, Aang jumped off the bison straight into the bay.  
"AANG!" The three others cried out.  
In a second, the unagi burst from the water, only this time Aang was securely set on its head. He pulled hard on the unagi's whiskers, making it roar in pain and confusion. In its confusion, it shot water from deep in its throat straight at the town. The water rained heavily on the town, putting on the raging inferno that the battle had started. The villagers cheer and the mayor bowed in the direction of the beach, "Thank you, Avatar."  
Aang jumped into the air off the unagi and was caught by an expertly timed Appa who changed course once again into the sunset.  
Ignoring the shocked faces of the three, Aang saw Sokka dressed in the Kyoshi uniform.  
"Nice dress Sokka." He said happily.  
Sokka glared daggers at him, "IT'S A WARRIOR'S GARB." He barked.  
Katara, Daniel, and Aang laughed as the sunset and the exciting day turned into a cold night. And as they slept in Appa's saddle, they all slept much more comfortably in the brisk high altitudes thanks to the warmth generated by the secretive Firebender, Daniel.

**Yeah this chapter was shorter by a few hundred words, but it was more action packed than the other ones so I think it's acceptable ;) Remember to follow and review if you like it, or just review if you don't :)**


	5. Chapter 5 Inconvenience and Disguises

Chapter 6 – Inconvenience and Disguises

Appa landed behind a large rocky outcropping along a well-traveled path. Aang was the first to jump off the beast and look around.  
"Where are we?" Katara asked.  
"We're in Omashu," Aang replied cheerfully, "Well, not exactly IN Omashu but it's just down that path." He pointed to a winding path that went across a deep canyon. The four teens got off Appa and started down the path. Daniel whistled in wonder at the great city.  
"Wow, the architecture is fantastic! And this canyon makes it easily defensible, no wonder why the city looks so prosperous." He observed.  
"It is. And it's famous for its mail cart system. My friend Bumi and I would always have so much fun riding in the high speed mail cart line, Bumi was a mad genius. That's the reason why we came here, we're gonna ride it!" Aang announced excitedly.  
Daniel and Sokka looked at eachother with doubt, "Uhh Aang, no offense, but whenever you wanna ride something, something goes wrong." Sokka said.  
"Oh come on Sokka, it's one of the most heavily guarded Earth Kingdom cities in the world. What could possibly go wrong?"  
Daniel pointed at the gates, "Being overly protective might just be what goes wrong."  
The other three teens looked at the gate where guards had cornered a timid looking merchant.  
"We don't need you peddling your rotten wares in our gates!" One of the guards yelled and used Earthbending to send the man's cart of vegetables hurdling towards the canyon floor.  
"Noooo my cabbges!" The merchant wailed in dismay, being carried away from the city gates my two other guards.  
"I hope you came prepared Aang. I doubt they're going to just let a ragtag bunch of teens into their city." Daniel pointed out.  
"Well I DID set aside a costume for emergencies." In a flash, Aang pulled several fist fulls of Appa's hair from his bag and arranged it into a wig and fake mustache, faking the look of an elderly man.  
"That'll work."  
The group approached the city gates and, just as expected, were stopped by city guards.  
"Halt! Identify yourself!" The guard barked.  
Aang stepped forward, "I am Bonzu Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis the Third, and these three are my grandchildren."  
Sokka and Katara looked eachother in bewilderment, but Daniel bowed. "Michael Pippinpaddle-Oppsokopolis, it is a pleasure." He said.  
The guards look at eachother, nod, and stand aside. "Very well, welcome to Omashu."  
The four teens walked into the bustling Earth Kingdom city. Katara, Sokka, and Daniel fascinated by the scene, but Aang only had one thing on his mind: riding mail carts.  
"Come on, let's go the top and ride them all the way down!" Aang said, running off to the steps leading to the upper city.  
"Wait Aang! We really should be getting to the North Pole, remember? You said no more detours last time." Katara said, concerned.  
"We only have to ride them once, then we leave for the North Pole. I promise."  
Katara sighed and smiled, "Okay okay, just once."  
Aang took off happily up the stairs. Daniel put his hand on Katara's shoulder, "Don't worry Katara we'll be fine, go have some fun. I'll steal off into some shadows and give you a signal if anything seems suspicious." He said soothingly.  
Katara smiled and put her hand on his, "Thank you."  
Katara and Sokka chased after Aang as Daniel slipped down into an alleyway.  
Aang jumped into a mail cart,followed by Katara and Sokka. Rocking back and forth, he dislodged the cart from its perch and had it rolling down the ramps in an instant. They laughed and screamed under the heavy influence of adrenaline, when Sokka turned and saw a much faster cart full of spears headed straight toward them.  
"Aang, we have a problem!" He shouted above the laughs and the heavy wind caused by their steep descent. Aang turned and saw the cart of death head straight toward them and his look of nostalgic merriment changed to one of fearful urgency. With a sharp lean to the side, Aang derailed their cart from the chute and went skidding at high speeds across the rooftops. Daniel, hearing their screams, looked up and saw the cart fly across two rooftops above him.  
"How did I know something like that about happen?" he sighed to himself and chased off after the cart.  
"Hey guys, I think it's slowly down!" Aang called out.  
What he did not see, was that the rooftops had ended and the only place to land was in the bustling street below. The three teens crying in horror all the way, they landed with a crash right into the now-destroyed new cart belonging to the cabbage merchant.  
"My cabbages!" He cried out, calling the guards attention. They drew their weapons and surrounded the dazed children.  
Daniel arrived just in time to see them be chained up by the guards. He placed his hand on the shortsword he concealed in his shirt, but judged against it after realizing the area has too much attention drawn to it in order to execute a stealth attack. Instead, he watches and sees his friends are being marched up to the castle and he forms himself a plan. Slipping through the alleyways, he comes upon a long guard making his patrol. Daniel takes a cloth out of his pack that he normally uses for cleaning his sword and ties it around the lower part of his face, crafting a makeshift mask. Daniel moves into a position in a small alcove in the path of the guard, waiting for him to pass before he makes his move. Running lightly, he catches up to the guard and pulls his sword. The guard heard the sound of the weapon being drawn, but far too late. In a poetic motion, Daniel brought his sword up and cut the fastener of the guard's helmet, using the upward swing to toss the helmet into the air as well. He brought the sword back around and struck the man in the head with the broadside of the sword, knocking him to the floor unconscious. Daniel dragged the unconscious guard into an alleyway and came back out dressed in the guard's uniform.  
Next stop: the castle, he thought to himself and made his way up the road.


	6. Chapter 6 The Avatar and the Impostor

Chapter 6 – The Avatar and the Impostor

Katara, Sokka, and Aang were marched into the great hall of Omashu Palace straight to the throne of the king himself.  
"My lord, these three kids are accused of intrusion into the city of Omashu, lying to a law enforcement officer, and property damage to at least ten houses, the mail cart system, and a…cabbage cart." A guard stated.  
The king glared down at the kids who cringed under the old man's glare.  
"I want them to be thrown," the king began angrily, "…a feast!" He finished with a smile.  
The teens looked up with surprise and the guards expressions turned to one of shock, "P-pardon my lord?"  
"A feast!" the king repeated again. "Grant them VIP quarters and order the chefs to cook a grand-"  
He was cut off as a guard burst into the room, "I apologize for the interruption your lordship, but I have disturbing news! A guard in the lower levels was found unconscious with his uniform missing, we have reason to believe there is an imposter on the loose!"  
The king looked him over, "Hmm well if it is my safety you're concerned for, I think I can handle myself. Then again…" The king looked at every guard in his throne room and, much to Daniel's distress, pointed a long, bony finger at him.  
"YOU! IT'S YOU!" He cried. Daniel prepared to defend himself when the king paused and finished his thought, "Who will be the one to defend me."  
Daniel gave a sigh of relief and the king looked back at the guards who had brought the children to him.  
"Well? What are you waiting for? Notify the chefs!" He barked.  
The guards looked at eachother with doubt, but finally did as they were told and left the throne room.  
"You two," the king said, pointing at two other guards, "Take our guests to the private quarters. I shall send my bodyguard with you as well, I'm sure he will provide quite the capable buffer if they try to 'reject our hospitality'."  
The guards and Daniel did as they were told and led the kids to the private quarters.  
"You have everything you need here. Don't try to leave. You will notified and escorted when the feast is prepared." One of the guards instructed before he and his partner began to leave.  
"I'll stay here for a bit and make sure the room is secure." Daniel said.  
The guards stopped and turned to him, giving a suspicious look, "That won't be necessary. The room is entirely secure."  
Daniel squinted his eyes, "Oh? I'm sure that's what the gate guards thought too when they let these urchins into the city. I don't know about you guys, but I want to do my job rather than submit to my comrades' incompetence." He snapped.  
The guards growled and finally nodded, "Very well, but don't take too much time away from the king's side."  
With that, the guards left. Before Daniel could turn and explain himself, Katara and Aang threw themselves onto him in a hug, catching him off guard.  
"I know you'd come!" Katara cried happily.  
"What's your plan of escape?" Aang asked excitedly.  
Daniel took a deep breath, "There is no escape plan, escape is impossible. There's something about that king that leads me to believe he knows more than he lets on. Even if my instinct on that is wrong, you guys are gonna be under heavy watch and the instant the guards even catch wind of an escape, they're locking down this city tight as could be."  
Katara and Aang let go of him and sighed.  
"Then what do you propose we do?" Sokka asked.  
"Go along with what this king has planned for you. I'll do my best to keep a close watch on you guys and see if the king or any guards happen to pass along what his intentions are. We'll be in touch, I promise."  
Daniel turned on his heel and walked out the door, leaving the three to their thoughts.  
"What if Daniel is discovered?" Katara had a concerned expression on her face.  
"He knows what he's doing. We just gotta trust in him and form a plan for ourselves." Sokka said and began pacing.  
"I don't know why you guys are so worried; the king is holding a feast for us." Aang pointed out.  
"Yeah, but why? And why would he treat us like prisoners if his intentions are good?" Sokka retorted.  
Aang rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah I get what you're saying."  
Later, at the king's side, Daniel stands alongside him as the chefs place their finishing touches on the meal.  
The king inhaled deeply, "Smell that food! You think the chefs did a grand job? I certainly do." The king asked Daniel who looked on.  
"Yes my lord, I'm sure our guests will appreciate it." He replied.  
The king raised an eyebrow at his bodyguard, "You seem rather rigid. Something on your mind?"  
"I like to keep myself on edge. The imposter could be anywhere, your safety is paramount."  
The king snorted in laughter, "Oh relax. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to hurt me. Tell you what, you take a seat by the Water Tribe girl when they're brought in. I think she'd feel more comfortable with a handsome young man next to her."  
Daniel stiffened and felt his face flush a bit, "A-as you wish sire." He stammered.  
The king wiped his brow and pulled a fan out from under his robes, "It's heating up in here, wouldn't you say?"  
Daniel's fear rose up again, forgetting that his Firebending will begin to flare up when he's at an emotional imbalance.  
"You could say that, lordship. Shall I fetch some servants to fan you?"  
The king shook his head, "No no that won't be necessary. I think if I'm not so crowded it will cool down. Mind being a pet and fetching our guests for me?"  
Daniel nodded and bowed, "As you command."  
Daniel walked down the hallways to the guest quarters and opened the door, finding the three teens lounging around waiting for their summons.  
"Dinner is served." Daniel announced.  
The three perked up, "Good, we got sick of waiting. Any news?" Sokka asked as they quickly readied themselves.  
"No, the king shows no change in his demeanor either. Just mind your manners at the feast and speak as respectfully as possible, you might be able to charm him into releasing you." Daniel advised.  
"Are you implying that we're not respect and well-mannered people?" Sokka asked, offended.  
"No, Katara and Aang are fine. You however…" Daniel trailed off teasingly.  
"Oh ha ha very funny."  
Daniel led the three to the dining hall.  
"Ahhh welcome friends! Please take a seat, take a seat." The king greeted them, arms wide.  
Aang bowed and sat down, followd by Sokka and Katara. Daniel had begun to return to the king's side, but the king raised his hand. "Ah ah ah, you relax and sit." He reminded him.  
Daniel cleared his throat and bowed apologetically, "My apologies." He said and took his seat to Katara.  
"What was that all about?" Katara whispered out of the side of her mouth, covering her voice under the sound of the dishes clamoring around the table as they were delivered to the teens.  
"Before I went to get you, he told me to sit next to you, that having me nearby might ease you a bit." He replied, waving his hand in refusal as a servant offered him steamed vegetables.  
Katara raised an eyebrow, "Why would he worry about that?"  
Daniel slipped a bite of meat into his mouth, "Most likely to get you to let your guard down. Stay frosty around here, something isn't right."  
Aang looked up and saw the old king looking him over, Aang nervously smiled at him, prompting the king to speak.  
"So where do you hail from?" The king asked.  
"Uhh Kangaroo Island." Aang replied.  
"I hear that place is really hoppin'."  
Sokka burst into laughter at the king's joke while Katara and Aang shot each other confused glances.  
A servant brought a drumstick of meat over to Aang and went to place it on his plate, when Aang shook his head, "No thank you, I'm a vegetarian."  
The servant complied, but was shocked when Sokka snatched the drumstick out of the servant's hand, "More for me."  
Daniel glared daggers at Sokka who nervously swallowed the meat already in his mouth, "Uhh I mean, thank you for your generosity."  
The king paid no mind to him and instead slowly got to his feet, "Ohh you'll have to excuse me, I am feeling rather tired, there was a-" In mid sentence, the king tossed a drumstick at Aang who caught it instinctively using his Airbending.  
Daniel sighed as the king smirked, "You are the Avatar." The king said, satisfied his trickery was successful.  
Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Daniel got to their feet but the guards surrounded the former three.  
"Not so fast Avatar, if you wish to leave Omashu you must complete three deadly challenges that I will thrust upon you tomorrow. I hope you're up for it." The king turned to Daniel, "Ohhh bodyguard, would you mind escorting our friends and the Avatar back to their room?" The king requested.  
Daniel hesitated for a moment and nodded, "…Let's go."  
Daniel, followed by a squad of other guards, led the teens back to their room. Just as they left, Daniel dropped a note behind him just as he shut the door.  
Aang walked over and picked it up, he read it aloud to his two friends, "King is unpredictable. He knows we know eachother. Be careful."  
Sokka and Katara looked at each other with uncertainty, fearing the worst.  
"Well it's getting late; I guess we should try to get some sleep." Katara announced in an attempt to spread some resolve.  
"She's right…We should be well-rested for whatever these challenges might throw at us." Aang agreed.  
Sokka groaned, "Well doesn't that sound just lovely."  
That night the three settled into their beds, but one from their group was still wide awake in his quarters.  
I can't let the king hurt them. If he is as crazy as he seems, they could be in a lot of trouble, I can't just stand by and let him put his sick plans into motion, Daniel thought.  
He tried to get up, but with a rumble, two pairs of stone shackles attached themselves to his wrists and ankles and forced him to the ground. He watched helplessly as light entered his room, and two guards stood over him. Just as one reached down to claim his prize, Daniel bit the man's hand and brought forth a pitiful fire breath from his throat. The breath was by no means mighty, for it was one of an untrained bender, but it was enough to cause the man to scream in pain and withdraw his hand.

"What the- You're a Firebender?!" The other assailant gasped. Daniel took advantage of the man's surprise to break free of the stone restraints that had become sufficiently weaker as both of the Earthbenders had been sufficiently injured or demoralized. Daniel jumped to his feet and pulled his shortsword. The shocked man had shaken off his surprise and launched two rocks at Daniel, who narrowly avoided them. Rolling to the side, Daniel got to the man's flank. The able-bodied man was not his target, for in the injured one, Daniel saw an opportunity. With two punches of fire, Daniel held his attacker off just in time to get to his target. He put his sword to the man's throat and glared. The attacker saw his partner was dead to rights, and he lowered his arms. At this point, Daniel realized they were guards, and thus formed his plan with ease.  
"Cuff yourself." Daniel ordered.  
The attacker hesitated.  
"Do it, or you both fry." Daniel hissed.  
Finally, the man took out his steel hand cuffs and hooked them on himself.  
"Get on the floor, on your stomach, NOW." Daniel barked.  
The man hesitated again, but with one hard look at his comrade's pained face, he complied.  
Daniel pulled the cuffs of the guard he had in his custody and did the same to him, kicking him to ground next to his partner shortly afterward.  
"Who sent you?" Daniel asked.  
"…The king." One replied.  
"Why? Does it have something to do with the challenges?"  
"He does not share his reasons with us."  
Daniel believed him on that one.  
"Surely I wasn't the only one he wanted."  
The guard growled, "The Water Tribe kids. He sent another team to get them."  
Daniel's eyes widened, "Where are they being taken?" He barked angrily, digging his foot into the man's back.  
"To some special holding cell okay?! That's all I know, you filthy impostor…"  
Daniel got up and brought his shortsword up, "I know those cuffs won't hold you, and I can't have you alerting your buddies. Nighty night." As he had done with the guard before, Daniel struck both men in the head with the broadside of his sword, knocking them cold. He sheathed his sword and went into the hallway, closing the door behind him. I've got to find them, he thought and took off quickly down the hall.


	7. Chapter 7 The King of Omashu

Chapter 7 – The King of Omashu

Daniel burst into the group's cell, his shortsword out and ignited with his Firebending.  
"Katara! Sokka!" He shouted in desperation.  
The only reply he received was Aang jumping out of bed and to his feet in terror.  
"Daniel what's going on?!" He shouted, trying to catch his breath.  
Daniel held out his makeshift torch and scanned the room with its light, seeing the only two other beds were empty.  
"I was too late…" He hissed.  
Aang looked where he was looking and upon sight of the empty beds, a feeling of dread washed over his body.  
"Where did they go?!" He gasped.  
"They were taken by the king. He tried to have me captured too, but by a stroke of luck I subdued them. They told me the king sent them and that Sokka and Katara were to be abducted as well.  
Aang growled angrily and grabbed his staff, "We're going to have a talk with this king."  
"I'm right behind you." Daniel said and followed Aang out of the room.  
The pair burst into the throne room, weapons at the ready, to find the lone king sitting there with no guards.  
"Where are my friends?!" Aang barked.  
"They are going to be held under my personal care for the time being." The king replied with a malicious smirk.  
"Release them, or by Agni we'll tear this palace to the ground if we have to!" Daniel barked.  
"I don't think you'd be wise in doing so." With the snap of his fingers, the king summoned two guards from the throne room doors, and with the guards was Katara and Sokka.  
"Notice their fingers," The king began, "They were rings of jennamite, also known as the 'Creeping Crystal'. The crystal will spread slowly until it encases their entire bodies and only I can undo the process."  
Daniel and Aang looked at their friends' hand and realized he was right. For right in front of their eyes, they noticed the green ring around their index fingers grew a few inches.  
"…What do you want?" Aang asked, knowing he was in no position to resist.  
"You must complete the three challenges I had mentioned earlier. I had originally planned for only the Avatar to take part in them, but I'd say my 'trusted bodyguard' has earned his right to partake in them with you. I'm sure the fact that your friends' lives are in your hands will motivate you to make this show particularly entertaining." The king burst into his snorting laughter.  
Daniel sheathed his sword and took a deep breath, "…Let the challenges begin."  
They all were moved to a large cavern lighted dimly by green, luminescent crystals and littered with stalagmites and stalactites. The only unusual feature was the loud, gushing waterfall on the opposite side of the cavern.  
"What's our challenge?" Daniel asked, raising his voice over the loud crash of the waterfall.  
"You must retrieve the key from the center of the waterfall!" The king shouted back.  
Aang looked over and saw Katara and Sokka's arms were covered in the crystal to the elbow.  
"We gotta do this fast, I'll get it." Aang said and flew over to the waterfall with his Airbending. He tried to reach in, but his arm was thrown downward by the mighty flow of the waterfall.  
He flew back to Daniel, rubbing his arm, "The pressure's too great, we can't get to it that way."  
Daniel thought for a moment, "If only we had an Earthbender…" He growled.  
Aang's face brightened up, "That's it!"  
"What's it?"  
"Earthbending!" Aang replied excitedly.  
"I'd hate to be a downer here, but you don't know Earthbending yet."  
"Not REAL Earthbending, but I know the next best thing." Aang pointed to a stalagmite that has lined up with the key. "If one of us I can dislodge the tip, I can shoot it right through the waterfall with Airbending!"  
Daniel nodded, "Impressive thinking. Leave it to me."  
Daniel brought his leg back and hit his heel hard on the ground. Fire burst from the impact point and went in a straight line to the stalagmite, travelling up its base and exploding at the tip, sending it into the air several inches. Aang shot a forceful blast of air at the rock and sent it rocketing through the waterfall fall, catching the key's chain, and pinning it to the cave wall behind it. Aang flew over and delivered the key to the king.  
"Good thinking you two, now onto the next challenge!" The king announced.  
They were moved out into the courtyard of the palace and the king took his seat overlooking it.  
"My dear pet Flopsie has gotten away from me here in this courtyard, ho matter how hard I try he won't return to me. If you can catch him, you complete this challenge." The king said, feigning distress.  
"Catching his pet? I KNOW there's more to it than that." Daniel grumbled, unconvinced.  
Aang scanned the area, and out of a bush, hopped a small bunny. Aang's face brightened and he took off after it. He chased it all the way around the courtyard, but finally got the best of it and grabbed the small animal.  
"Gotcha!" He cried, "Look Daniel, I got him!"  
"Oh? Well look what's got me." Daniel replied, tension in his voice.  
Aang turned and saw a great, monstrous gorilla-goat growling down upon his friend.  
"Aang…just go turn in Flopsie…I'll handle-" Daniel stopped, he noticed the beast's head reared up in recognition when he had said Flopsie.  
"Flopsie, down!" He said, hoping his hunch was correct. The gorilla-goat jumped on him and opened its mouth. Aang, Katara, and Sokka gasped in horror as the creature went to take a bite into its supposed meal. Daniel braced for the worst and felt the creature right in front of his face, but instead of feeling its teeth, he felt its tongue lick him over and over across his face. He opened his eyes and turned his head toward the creature that had a happy expression on its face as he licked Daniel affectionately.  
"I found him." Daniel groaned in annoyance.  
The king went down into the courtyard and called Flopsie's name, getting the beast off of Daniel. It ran over and rolled over in front of its master, who proceeded to rub its tummy, "Who's a good Flopsie," The king said in a baby-like voice.  
Daniel got up and wiped himself off. He looked up at Sokka and Katara who were now covered from head to ankle in the crystal and felt anger within him rise.  
"Enough of the delay!" He roared, sending embers flying from his body, "The next challenge. NOW."  
The king looked up, pouting before laughing, "Very well, on to the next challenge!"  
They were escorted to an arena-style area within the palace. Daniel and Aang walked in and looked around. The arena was flat and a very simple design, clearly made for Earthbending matches.  
They were startled as two gates slammed open in front of them and out came two muscular and intimidating men dressed in decorated warrior's armor.  
"Your final challenge! You must pick who you wish to fight. If you defeat him, you and your friends go free." The king explained.  
Daniel and Aang looked the two men over, but Daniel saw Aang's stare travel somewhere else.  
"What are you doing?" Daniel asked.  
"Getting us an easy challenge," Aang replied and pointed a finger at the old king, "YOU!" He barked.  
The king stared for a moment and began laughing hysterically, "Wrong choice!" He rasped.  
The king threw off his purple robes and his horned crown and stood tall, revealing muscle that would put the two alternative opponents to shame. He jumped down into the arena, cracking the ground where his feet landed.  
"I am the most powerful Earthbender you will ever meet!" The king roared.  
"Nice plan genius." Daniel growled, taking a fighting stance.  
Aang winced and did the same, "How was I supposed to know he was an Earthbending master?!"  
The king immediately launched several boulders at the pair, who split up and did their best to avoid them. Aang dodged them much easier with the help of his Airbending, which the king pointed out instantly.  
"Such a predictable Airbender move!" He taunted, "Maybe you should spend more time training and less time meditating!"  
Daniel took advantage of the king's focus on Aang and stomped his foot into the ground, causing several bursts of fire to erupt from the impact point. He forged the bursts into large fireballs and kicked them at the king who raised a wall of rock to protect himself.  
"A Firebender who uses Earthbender fighting style? You must've had a very confused master." The king taunted. He crumbled the wall of rock into gravelly shards and sent it hurdling towards Daniel in a wave of debris. Daniel braced himself against the wave and ignited himself, barely escaping the onslaught with a few cuts and bruises.  
"I taught myself to bend by watching Earthbenders like you," Daniel replied in between breaths and a smirk slowly formed on his face, "Thanks for the lesson."  
He brought his fists back and swung them upward, bringing a wave of fire that had scooped up the remnants of the gravel wave and sent the red hot debris right back to its origin. The king braced himself against the inferno, swinging his arms forward from his chest and scattering the wave. The king smiles savagely at his success, but his caught off guard when he is slapped in the face by an Airbending blast. He shakes his head and reaches behind him. Daniel and Aang watch in terror as a huge chunk of the wall behind him begins to crack free from the rest of the wall.  
"Stay back!" Aang yells to Daniel who does as he is told.  
Just as the king has the chunk halfway out of the ground, Aang began running in circles, generating a growing tornado. The king tossed the chunk at Aang, but did not anticipate it getting caught in the tornado and getting shot back at him. He quickly raised his fists to block the boulder, which was bisected with ease. Aang was already on him and burst from between the two halves of the rock and pinned the king to the ground wish his staff. Daniel slowly circled the fallen king, fists ignited.  
After a short silence, the king spoke, "You win, but before I release your friends, you must perform on last task."  
Daniel growled and his flames grew larger, "Not part of the deal!" He snarled.  
The king laughed, "Don't worry, Aang already knows the answer to my question," The king looked at Aang and grinned. "What is my name?" He asked him.  
Daniel put down his fists, "Do you Aang?"  
Aang thought for a moment, "The point of all the challenges was to think differently than I normally would to solve each situation something only…" Aang trailed off for a moment and grinned wildly, "Bumi, a mad genius, would think of."  
Daniel, Sokka, and Katara watched in shock as Aang and the king hugged.  
"It's good to see you Aang," Bumi said, "You haven't changed a bit. Literally."  
"Uhhh excuse us, we'd hate to be a bother, but a little help…please?" Sokka asked dryly.  
With a movement of his hand, the crystal around Katara and Sokka shatters. Bumi picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, crunching it around. "Did you jennamite is actually rock candy?" He asked with a smile.  
"So you're saying this crazy old king is your friend Bumi?" Katara asked to clarify, still somewhat shocked at the events.  
"Hey who are you calling old?!" The king asked before sighing, "Okay, I'm old."  
"Why all of the deception? You KNEW who I was, you knew who Aang was too, what was the purpose of all this?" Daniel asked, the tinge of anger in his voice still present.  
"First of all, it's fun messing with people," Bumi said and took a moment to laugh, summoning an increase of rage within Daniel, "But there is another reason. " Bumi turned to address Aang. "You have a difficult journey ahead of you. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone and it is the duty of the Avatar to restore peace to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You must master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord to end all this. When you do, I hope you think like a mad genius."  
Aang smiled and bowed to his old friend.  
Bumi continued, "And it looks like you're in good hands. You will need your friends to help you defeat the Fire Lord."  
Momo came running and scurried up to Aang's shoulder, chattering.  
Bumi smiled, "And of course, you'll need Momo too."  
"Thank you for your wisdom, but before we go, I have a challenge for you." Aang said with a smirk and turned to his friends, "You guys go on ahead. Bumi and I have a childhood to relive."  
Sokka, Daniel, and Katara made their way out of the palace and down the city streets.  
"I was worried about you two for a moment there." Daniel said.  
"We were fine. Sokka and I were more worried about you and Aang having to complete all those crazy challenges." Katara said, looking with concern at the cuts on Daniel that had just begun to scab over.  
"I'm just glad it's all over. You still stiff Sokka?" Daniel asked, noticing a slight limp in his friend's walk.  
"Hey, you try being encased in immobilizing crystal for a few hours and see how you like it." Sokka retorted.  
"I think I'll pass."  
"So what did Bumi mean when he said you bend like an Earthbender?" Katara asked Daniel.  
"My fighting style. Aside from the basic punches and kicks, I treat my fire like it's a rock. I never had a Firebending teacher and I could never get close enough to the soldiers to observe them, so I figured Earthbenders would have to do and I began studying them whenever I saw them to pick up a few moves." Daniel explained.  
"That's resourceful, but it would be nice if you could learn proper Firebending."  
Daniel shrugged, "As long as I can fight, I'm fine."  
"So where did Aang and Bumi go anyway?" Sokka asked, stretching his arms out.  
At that moment, they heard a loud crash a few streets away along with a resounding, "MY CABBAGES!"  
"I think your question has been answered Sokka." Daniel laughed and the three ran toward the impact point to retrieve their mischievous friend.


	8. Chapter 8 The Earthbender

Chapter 8 – The Earthbender

After a day of flying, the group set themselves down in some Earth Kingdom woods to gather more supplies.  
"What's on the menu for dinner, Sokka?" Katara asked as her brother returned to the camp.  
"Some round nuts, some hard nuts, and some rock-shaped nuts that might just be rocks," Sokka replied, "Dig in!"  
Daniel, Katara, and Aang looked at each other tiredly.  
"You're joking." Daniel said.  
"No, no I'm not." Sokka sighed.  
Momo ran over and picked up one of the nuts. He tried to crack it open on the rocks, but a large boom interrupted his activity and scared him up Aang's shirt.  
"What was that?!" Daniel said, getting to his feet with his sword drawn.  
"It came from over there!" Katara pointed. She, Aang, and Daniel took off toward the noise, leaving Sokka standing at the camp.  
"Aren't we supposed to be running AWAY from huge booms?!" He called after them to no avail.  
The group looked down over a ridge into a dried up riverbed. A man wearing traditional Earth Kingdom garb was standing in the center, bending large boulders.  
"He's an Earthbender…" Katara whispered.  
"He can't be any older than we are." Daniel observed.  
"Young or old, he looks dangerous so we need to proceed with-" Sokka was cut off by Katara who had run down to greet the Earthbender.  
"Oh for Agni's sake!" Daniel hissed.  
Katara waved at the Earthbender, "Hello there! I'm Katara, what's your name?" She asked with a smile.  
The Earthbender turned, and with a fearful look on his face, sprinted down the riverbed and covered his path with several boulders.  
"I just wanted to say hi…" Katara said sadly.  
"You all don't understand. Being an Earthbender can very dangerous depending on where you are in the Earth Kingdom." Daniel said, shaking his head.  
"Why? It's their home." Aang asked, confused.  
"No...Not anymore. The Fire Nation marches further and further into the Earth Kingdom by the day. They annex any settlements they find and imprison the Earthbenders, the only ones who can stand against them…or worse."  
Katara winced, realizing her mistake, "We should go find the town he lives in, maybe we can help." She suggested.  
"And bring the whole Fire Nation occupation force down on our heads? No, they're better off without us." Sokka said, crossing his arms.  
"Well we need supplies anyway tough guy, I will NOT have a nut for dinner." Katara retorted.  
"I think Katara's right, those people really need help if they're under Fire Nation control." Aang said.  
Katara looked to Daniel, "What do you think?"  
Daniel thought for a moment, "It's a gamble. If we can help them, they may be able to play a part in boosting morale in Earth Kingdom resistance, as well as provide several Earthbenders to the cause. However, if we fail and cause too much of a fuss there, we could potentially invoke the destruction of their livelihood…much like what almost happened on Kyoshi Island." Daniel said solemnly.  
Katara thought for a moment, but finally looked up with a determined look on her face, "We have to help them. We can't turn our backs on people in need."  
Daniel and Aang nodded, "As you desire." Daniel said.  
Sokka rolled his eyes and tried to stand his ground, "I-I'm only going along with this because we need food. That's all."  
"Oh come on you big lug, you know you want to be the hero to the fair maidens of the village." Daniel teased.  
"Fair maidens? There are fair maidens there?" Sokka asked, running after them much to the amusement of the group.  
The group arrived at the town which seemed none the worse for wear.  
"This place doesn't look like a town sacked by the Fire Nation." Sokka observed.  
"The Fire Nation won't destroy what they can use. This town probably has mines or farms somewhere that produce a commodity essential to the Fire Nation army." Daniel explained.  
Katara scanned the street and finally saw the long, dark hair of the boy they saw in the riverbed go into a shop.  
"Hey there he is!" Katara yelled.  
She went to run inside when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.  
"Katara, be subtle. Remember, his life hangs on whoever knows he's a bender which means we want to keep that number to a low. Right?"  
Katara nodded, "Sorry, I'm still getting used to all this." She said apologetically.  
"Just act natural, we'll be fine."  
The group walked into the shop and walked up to the man standing at the counter.  
"Hey, you're that kid we saw in the wood before!" Katara said.  
The boy turned with a look of shock, "Uhh I'm sorry, you must have me confused with another kid."  
"No we don't, we saw you Earthbending." Aang pointed out.  
With a gasp, the woman behind the counter shut all the windows in almost an instant.  
"They saw you doing what?!" The woman asked the boy, terror in her voice.  
"They're crazy mom! Just look at how they're dressed!"  
This caused the group to shift a little uncomfortably.  
"Do you know how dangerous that is, Haru?! Imagine what would happen if THEY caught you Earthbending!" The women hissed.  
The exchange was interrupted by a pound at the door, "OPEN UP!" Came a rough voice from outside.  
Sokka peaked through the shutters and saw a Fire Nation soldier standing outside the door.  
"Fire Nation! Everybody act natural!" He whispered.  
Haru's mother went to the door and opened it. The Fire Nation soldier stepped inside to find Sokka and Haru apparently debating over the price of an apple, Katara and Daniel looked in a romantic embrace, and Aang leaning on a barrel of water which he promptly fell off of. The soldier was not amused and ignored the display, instead looking to Haru's mother.  
"I'm here to collect." He growled.  
"I already paid you this week!" She snapped.  
"Heh…the tax just doubled. You wouldn't want an accident to occur here would you?" The soldier asked, creating a ball of fire in his hands.  
Haru's mother sighed and went to retrieve the money. She brought it to the soldier who counted it out and dropped the copper pieces on the floor."  
"You can keep these, peasant." The soldier mocked her and turned on his heel out the door.  
"They aren't soldiers, they're thugs." Haru hissed, clenching his fists.  
"Why don't you fight back? You're proud Earth Kingdom citizens! You can easily kick this Fire Nation filth out of your town!" Katara shouted in disbelief.  
"…Because they took my father away." Haru said quietly.  
Daniel shook his head while Katara stared in shock.  
"I'm so sorry…" She whispered quietly.


	9. Chapter 9 Haru

Chapter 9 – Haru

The room was silent for a moment before Daniel spoke up, "We are sorry for your loss and for bringing up such…sensitive matters. We will be on our way."  
"Wait! This isn't right! Earthbending is a part of who you are, Haru. It isn't fair that the right to use it is taken from you!" Katara said passionately, trying to keep her rising tone as quiet as possible.  
"Earthbending is forbidden! As you know now, it only brings trouble." Haru's mother retorted, her voice quivering slightly.  
"How long has the Fire Nation been here? What do they want?" Aang asked, still overwhelmed by all this.  
"Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses the coal from the mines to fuel his ships." Haru's mother responded.  
Katara shook her head angrily, "I can't believe this, even the town is against his abilities?"  
Haru's mother glared, "You don't understand." She hissed.  
"She's right, Katara, you don't. This town lost many friends and family due to their display of their gift. This poor woman has lost her husband and her son is all she has left. I'm sorry Katara, but survival comes first." Daniel reasoned.  
Katara clenched her fist, but said nothing more.  
"Haru, show our guests to our barn. They came with good intentions, the least we can do is offer them a warm place to sleep tonight." Haru's mother said.  
"Very well, follow me." Haru led the group to the outskirts of the town and opened the door to a large barn.  
"This is where you can sleep tonight, but you should probably leave in the morning." Haru said.  
"Thanks! I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all of your hay." Aang said, causing the sky bison to look over at him at the mention of his name with mouth full of hay.  
"Hey, can we talk a bit?" Katara asked as Haru went to leave.  
"Uhh sure. I know a good place we can walk to." He said, curious.  
The pair walked down the road and Katara began the conversation.  
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier."  
"It's okay…it's funny, the way you were talking back in the store, reminded me so much of my father."  
"Oh…thanks." Katara replied with a smile.  
Haru continued, "My father was very courageous; when the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other Earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one, but they fought back anyway."  
"He sounds like a great man."  
The pathway ended at a cliff ledge that looked over a great, green valley. Haru got down on one knee and looked out over the environment, the land bathed in the honey color of sunset.  
"After the attack, they rounded up every single Earthbender and took them away…we haven't heard from my father since."  
"So that's why you practice your bending secretly."  
"Yes, but the thing is, the only way I feel close to my father is when I practice my bending." Haru wiped a tear away from his cheek, "…he taught me everything I know."  
Katara stared at him for a bit then sat down next to him.  
"See this necklace? My mother gave it to me." Katara said, tenderly touching the piece of jewelry.  
"It's beautiful." Haru observed.  
"I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid, this is all I have left of her." Katara said quietly, turning away from him for a moment.  
Haru looked back out over the valley, "It's never enough is it?"  
Katara shut her eyes tight to hold back her tears, "No…it isn't."  
The two made their way back to the town, when suddenly a huge crash a cloud of dust erupted from a hillside along the road.  
"The mine!" Haru shouted.  
The two ran to the mine entrance and found an old man stuck under the collapsed dirt, screaming for help. Haru dug his back into the dirt, attempting to hold back any further debris while Katara did her best to pull the man free.  
"I can't get him loose, we need to get help!" Katara yelled over the rumbling of the mine.  
"There's no time, pull harder!" Haru replied.  
Katara looked up at him, "Haru, there's a way you can help."  
Haru shook his head, his face tensing up more and more under the pressure of the dirt, "I…can't." He managed to say.  
"Please, there's no one around to see you." Katara pleaded.  
Haru thought quickly and finally got away from the mine entrance. He turned and set himself into an Earthbending stance. The dirt and rocks before Katara's eyes froze in midair, and with a great push from Haru, the entire blockage was sent hurdling down the mine.  
"Haru you did it!" Katara exclaimed excitedly.  
He smiled and sighed as the two took the little old man back to the town.  
Later that night, Katara was still telling the story to her friends.  
"It was so brave of Haru to use his Earthbending to save the poor old man." She said happily.  
"You must've really inspired him." Aang said from the top of Appa.  
Sokka turned over in his makeshift bed, "Story time is over. We have to wake up early." He snapped.  
"Oh come on Sokka, can't we sleep in for once?" Katara asked, rolling her eyes.  
"Absolutely not. This town is crawling with Fire Nation troops, if they find Aang, we'll be eating fire balls for breakfast."  
"Better than eating some foraged nuts." Katara retorted, causing a giggle from Aang.  
"Good night." Sokka growled and rolled back over in his bed.  
"Wait, where's Daniel?" Katara asked, looking around.  
"He said he had something to look into. I'm sure he'll be back soon." Aang replied, making himself comfortable in Appa's fur.  
Katara shrugged and blew out the lantern, with that the barn went dark.  
Daniel found a nice place in the trees along the pathway to Haru's home and sat down. He lit a small candle and placed it on the dirt. He hated night-time, without the sun, he felt weak. Ever since he had left Yu Dao, he discovered that the only way he can truly sleep or just feel comfortable at night, was to have a flame next to him, no matter how small. He sat down and closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing. Pretty soon, the candle flame rose and fell with his breaths, and after a long while, it flickered with his heartbeat. Just as he felt relaxed enough to return to the barn to sleep with his friends, he heard the sound of boots on dirt. His eyes show open and he peered through the trees to see several lantern lights moving in unison toward Haru's home. He quickly blew out the candle and snuck through the trees. To his terror, he made out the image of Fire Nation armor, and realized what was happening. He shadowed the group of soldiers, judging their numbers and weighing them against his current situation.  
If I engage the group, the Firebending will alert the town as well as any nearby Fire Nation garrisons. It could also set fire to these trees. However, if I attack, I can potentially save Haru, he thought to himself.  
His choice was clear, and with great sadness, he resigned himself to do nothing but observe. The soldiers reached Haru's door and pounded on it.  
"Yes?" Haru said as he opened the door, and realized with horror who was there.  
"That's him! That's the Earthbender!" An old voice came from within the group of soldiers.  
Daniel judged by the look of shock and betrayal on Haru's face, that the old voice belonged to the old man who Katara and Haru had rescued that evening. Without a word, the lead Fire Nation soldier picked up Haru with one great fist and carried him off.  
"I'm sorry Haru." Daniel whispered to himself, and as soon as the soldiers were gone, he sprinted back to the barn.


	10. Chapter 10 Infiltration

Chapter 10 – Infiltration

Katara got up that morning early as usual and took the group's water pot out to the pump. She hummed an old Water Tribe tune happily as she bended the water from the pump with ease. She looked out to gaze at the sunrise and, confused, saw Haru's mother staring out over the ledge with Daniel's hand on her shoulder.  
"Is everything okay?" She asked quietly approaching them.  
Daniel hung his head and Haru's mother turned to Katara, tears filling her eyes. Judging only by the pained look in the woman's eyes, Katara knew what had happened. In her emotions of shock, pain, and sadness, she cared not as the pot of water slipped from her hands and crashed to the ground. The sound brought Sokka and Aang out from the barn to inspect the noise.  
"What happened?" Sokka asked.  
"They took Haru away…" Katara replied, her voice quivering.  
Daniel left the side of the grieving mother and walked over to his friends.  
"The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation." He said, his voice shaking slightly in memory of his inability to stop the arrest.  
"This is all my fault. I forced him to Earthbend." Katara sighed.  
Daniel shook his head, "No. You did what you thought was right. Who knew that poor old man would turn into rat and forsake his savior."  
"When did this all happen?" Sokka asked.  
"They came for him around midnight. I saw them coming, but there were too many of them. The risk of damage to the town and the surrounding area was too great and drawing attention here would only make the situation worse." Daniel explained, feeling the need to justify his inaction to the group to relieve his own guilt.  
"I understand. If it happened that long ago though, we can't track him. He's long gone." Sokka replied, placing a finger under his chin in thought.  
"We won't have to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me straight to him." Katara announced, walking toward the barn door.  
"Why would they do that?"  
"Because they're going to arrest me for Earthbending."  
Aang and Sokka looked at each other in great confusion, but Daniel seemed to understand completely.  
"Just like back in Omashu, I see where you're going with this." He said with an impressed smile.  
"Uhh, you do?" Aang asked.  
"Of course, just like how you used your Airbending to shoot that rock at the key chain, we can use it again to imitate Earthbending."  
Katara turned to them, "Exactly, and thanks to the walk I took with Haru, I know exactly how we're going to pull it off."  
Katara led them down to a pathway that led directly to multiple mine entrances. The group stopped at a spot where two metal grates lay very near to each other.  
"See here? These vents go down into the mine shafts. If we can roll a boulder on to the one in the pathway, Aang can shoot a powerful gust of air into the other one to simulate Earthbending." Katara explained.  
"I gotta say, that's a pretty smart plan." Sokka admitted.  
"Come along, let's roll that boulder over." Daniel said, motioning Sokka to come with him.  
The two men rolled the boulder over to the grate with little trouble.  
"Okay, the plan is set. I will stick around in cover for a bit to make sure everything goes smoothly, and then I'll take my leave for the time being." Daniel said, walking over to the rock where Aang had hid himself.  
"Why are you leaving?" Sokka asked.  
Daniel stopped and smiled, "To make preparations for Katara's arrival of course."  
Sokka was going to press the subject, but Katara caught his attention.  
"Here they come!" Katara said quietly as a patrol of Fire Nation soldiers made their way down the path.  
Daniel sat beside Aang who was playing with a butterfly and peered around the corner of the rock to observe the scene.  
"You do know your queue right?" Daniel asked skeptically.  
"Yeah yeah yeah." Aang replied.  
Daniel sighed and went back to observing the exchange which was already underway.  
Katara and Sokka had been slinging insults at each other to fake a fight. The soldiers looked more puzzled than concerned about the fight, and for a moment Daniel feared they would not fall for it. The two siblings continued their play fight.  
"I bet elephants make fun of the size of YOUR ears!" Katara shouted.  
"Oh shut it! If I wanted a chattering lemur I'd go catch one!" Sokka retorted.  
Katara growled, "It's time to teach you some manners, Earthbending style!"  
With this, she turned to the boulder and raised her fist in an upward thrust. Nothing happened. Daniel turned to Aang and delivered a sharp punch to his arm.  
Aang help back a yelp and scrambled to his feet. With all the force he could muster, he sent a gust of air down the vent. The plan worked and the boulder levitated into the air, revealing Momo who had taken shelter in the shade of the large rock when it was stationary. The soldiers gasped and pointed at Momo.  
"That lemur is Earthbending!" One of them breathed in amazement.  
Sokka slammed his palm to his own forehead, "No you simpleton! The girl's Earthbending!"  
The soldier cleared his throat nervously, "O-of course." He stammered.  
"I'll grab her!" Sokka announced, taking both of Katara's arms.  
"You have twelve hours to find Haru, we'll be right behind you. Daniel said he went ahead, look for him if you need help while you're there. Good luck." Sokka whispered to his sister.  
Aang and Sokka watched as Katara was taken away by the Fire Nation patrol, Sokka tugging at his ears insecurely the whole time.  
Along the pathway, the soldiers stopped and turned toward the brush.  
"Did you hear something?" One of them asked.  
"Yeah, someone's in those bushes." Another replied.  
Two of the soldiers went forward to investigate while another stayed behind to watch Katara. Katara turned in alarm as her guard was pulled into the brush behind her. The two others turned in alarm.  
"What was that?!" They asked anxiously.  
Katara shrugged.  
The two men looked at each other then nervously approached the brush where their comrade had stood. In a blur, two hands came out grappled onto their faces, plunging them to the ground below. The hard strike of the metal helmets against the rock sent the soldiers out cold.  
"Time to play dress up again."  
Katara watched as Daniel emerged from the brush, dressed in Fire Nation armor.  
"Daniel!" She cried happily.  
Daniel smiled and put a finger to his mouth. He pulled the two soldiers into the brush, tying their hands and feet together.  
"You're my prisoner now, Katara. I hope you'll come quietly." Daniel teased.  
Katara giggled, relieved that she was currently out of Fire Nation custody.  
"What drove you to do all this?" She asked as the two walked along down the pathway once again.  
"Well I needed a disguise to get my way into the prison and it just so happened your escort was isolated enough to be the perfect targets. Trying to take out the dock guards would've been…problematic." Daniel explained.  
"Dock guards?"  
"Yeah. I scouted ahead. Congratulations, you're being taken on a scenic cruise to a coal prison rig. I hope you brought formal attire."  
Katara put the pieces together, "So they take the Earthbenders out to sea, surrounded by metal, so they can't revolt. God that must be awful, having no way to use your bending…"  
"Well that's what we're here to stop isn't it? Maybe we'll get lucky and Haru isn't the only one we liberate from the Fire Nations smelly palms."  
"You really think we can help them?" Katara asked, hopeful.  
"It's definitely possible. But first things first, you find Haru and get a plan together. I, of course, have to blend in with the guards, but I will be sure to keep an eye on you. Try to be subtle, for if those guards smell an escape, it'll be all I can do to hold them off while you and Haru are extracted."  
"You'd do that?" Katara asked, noting a grim tone to the last part of Daniel's speech.  
"You didn't abandon me, Katara. I vow on the spirits that I will not abandon you either. You and I are in this together." Daniel replied soothingly.  
Katara smiled, "Thank you."  
The two arrived at a Fire Nation checkpoint at the edge of town. Two soldiers walked up and stopped them.  
"Halt. Identify yourself." One of the guards barked.  
"I am from the outer mine patrols, I found this girl Earthbending. I request a transport to the docks to have her ferried away to the prison." Daniel replied very professionally.  
The soldier looked them over, "She's a pretty little thing. Shame she's gotta go to a place like that. Oh well, you two get into the cart." The soldier threw a thumb over his shoulder to a metal cart pulled by an ostrich horse. Daniel and Katara climbed in to the cart. Daniel slid his Firebender face plate into place in his helm to prevent identification. The cart rolled on to the docks toward a Fire Nation transport ship. Katara looked back and saw the forms of Sokka and Aang incognito in the crowd, get smaller and smaller. Her face changed from one of relative calm to panic stricken as the realization once again hit her as to what she was doing. Daniel saw Katara's fright and, in an obscure movement, reached over and gently placed his hand over her's. She looked up at him, and despite seeing the lifeless visage of the Firebender helmet, she smiled and felt her resolute spirit reawaken once again.


	11. Chapter 11 The Prison Rig

Chapter 11 – The Prison Rig

From the sky, Aang and Sokka watched as the ship carrying the prisoners docked at the prison rig. The rig was very sinister looking, composed of pitch black metal and a few towering smoke stacks spewing the choking coal smoke.  
"She'll be fine Aang, Katara knows what she's doing. Besides, Daniel's down there with her, she isn't going in alone." Sokka said, attempting to reassure him. Aang only nodded in response.  
Down on the docks, the soldiers had lined up the prisoners for inspection by the warden. Daniel made sure Katara was on the end of the line, next to him. Katara felt better knowing she wasn't there alone, but just as it had done to Aang, the look of the rig made her feel dread. It was not long before the warden appeared.  
"Greetings Earthbenders! It is a pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard. I am your warden and I like to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests. I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host."  
Daniel felt anger rise within him as he witnessed the smug expression on the older man's face. He looked over at Katara and saw a look of disgust very apparent on her face.  
The warden continued, "You will succeed here if you simply abide-"  
The warden was cut off as an elderly man around the center of the line went into a loud coughing fit. Katara looked over in concern at the sickly man, but the warden was not quite so moved. Angered, the warden turned and set a kick of fire toward the man, who dodged the flames just in time. Daniel prepared to step in front of Katara to guard her from the outburst, but stopped when he realized the warden did not mean to engage the old man any further.  
"What kind of a guest interrupts his host?!" The warden snapped, "Take him below! One week of solitary confinement will improve his manners!"  
Two guards grabbed each of the man's arms and hauled him away.  
"Just treat me the way I treat you," The warden began again and noticed Katara's look of anger. He got in her face with his evil smirk, "And we'll get along famously."  
The warden turned and motioned to the rest of the rig itself, "You will notice, Earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any land whatsoever, so if you have any plans on escaping using that savage practice that you call bending, forget them. It is impossible." The warden smirked once again and surveyed his handiwork at further breaking the spirit of the group before him.  
"Good day." He finished and marched off, leaving the prisoners to the soldiers.  
The soldiers marched the prisoners into a huge open area that seemed to function as the main holding area. Katara looked around at all the men and women, damaged physically and emotionally by grueling labor. She flinched at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, but relaxed when she realized it was only Daniel.  
"I gotta go or the guards will get suspicious. I will be up there on the wall keeping an eye on you okay? You'll be fine." He whispered.  
Katara smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll find Haru. You be careful too."  
"Aren't I always?"  
With that, Daniel turned and walked out of the thick metal tunnel, the solid gates slamming shut behind him. It was at this point that Katara realize how massive the structure was. The huge, dark metal wall made her feel like a bug in comparison and the red banner bearing the Fire Nation insignia made her feel like she was being watched constantly. She turned back to the holding area and started walking, scanning the crowd of Earthbenders for Haru.  
"Katara?!" A voice called out.  
She turned and saw Haru, scrambling to get to his feet.  
"Haru!" She cried happily and ran over to him, giving him a big hug.  
"What are you doing here?!" Haru gasped in disbelief.  
"It was my fault you were arrested, so I came here to rescue you."  
"So you got yourself arrested?"  
"It was the only way to find you."  
"You got guts Katara, I'll give you that. Come on, there's someone I want you to meet."  
Haru led Katara to a corner of the prison yard where a group of people sat eating. Haru walked up to a muscular, but older man at the head of the group.  
"Katara, this is my father, Tyro. Dad, this is Katara." Haru said proudly.  
"It's an honor to meet you." Katara said with a bow.  
Tyro looked at them and smiled, "Have some dinner Katara." He said, holding out a bowl of stew.  
Katara accepted it happily, but involuntarily uttered a groan of disgust after seeing the contents.  
"It's not as bad as it looks." Tyro reassured her.  
She took a spoonful of the stew into her mouth and narrowly avoided spitting it back out.  
"It's still pretty bad though." Tyro admitted with a chuckle.  
A man came up to the group and tapped Tyro on the shoulder.  
"Tyro, the prisoners are complaining that there aren't enough blankets to go around." The man explained.  
Tyro turned to him, "I'll speak to the guards. In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of first. The rest of us will just have to hope for warmer weather."  
"If you don't mind me asking," Katara began, "What's your escape plan?"  
"Escape plan?" Tyro asked in confusion.  
"Yeah, you know, the plan to get everyone off this rig. Mutiny, sabotage, what?"  
"The plan is to survive, Katara, to wait out this war. All we can do is hope that one day we will be reunited with our families and we can forget all this ever happened."  
"How can you say that? You sound like you've already given up!"  
"Katara I admire your courage and I envy your youth, but people's lives are at stake here. The warden is a ruthless man and he won't stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless." Tyro explained with shame in his voice.  
"We'll see about that." Katara said defiantly, standing up.  
She grabbed the stew pot lid and the stirring spoon and began walking toward a raised platform around the center of the yard. She climbed up on top and banged the spoon against the pot lid, making a shrill clanging that caught the attention of everyone, including Daniel. He looked down over the railing and felt his heart inflame.  
What are you doing you crazy girl, Daniel thought to himself. He looked around and saw all the guards were distracted, observing the spectacle below them. He took advantage of the situation and made his way away from his post and down toward the yard.  
"Earthbenders!" Katara began, "You don't know me, but I know you. Every child in my Water Tribe village was rocked to sleep to stories of the brave Earth Kingdom and the courageous Earthbenders that guard its borders. Some of you may think the Fire Nation has made you powerless, and yes they have taken away your ability to bend, but they can't take away your courage. It is your courage that they should truly fear because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, greater than any ocean that keep you from home. It is the strength of your hearts that makes you who you truly are, hearts that will remain unbroken even when all manner of rock and stone have been eroded away. The time to fight back is now! I can tell you the Avatar has returned, so remember your courage Earthbenders, and let us fight for our freedom!"  
She looked out over the crowd and expected a great battle cry to erupt at any moment, but there was only silence. She looked down in sadness and Haru turned his face from her in shame. The warden, however, had been watching the whole time and only smirked at the failure of her speech.  
Daniel stood from a tower and looked over the situation, observing the sorry sights of the Earthbenders. What he knew, however, was that she had planted a seed of possibility in their minds. Something that had been squashed so long ago was broached once again in the form of a strong Water Tribe youth who took them all by surprise.  
They will sleep on this tonight, Daniel thought, and no matter what happens, the thought of rebellion has sparked once again.  
He picked up a lump of coal and scraped his fingernail across it, causing a spark.  
And as we all know, he thought again, there is so much that just a spark can do.  
By the time Daniel dropped the lump of coal and returned to his post, the coal was engulfed in flames.  
That night, Appa had pulled up alongside the prison rig. Aang snuck onboard quickly and sprinted across the prison yard to the sleeping area. He found Katara and shook her awake. She looked up at him and was about to ask him what he was doing there, but was silenced when he placed a finger to his mouth. He led her back across the prison yard to where Sokka and Appa were waiting, ready to extract her and Haru.  
"Your twelve hours are up, where's Haru and Daniel?" Sokka asked quietly.  
"We aren't leaving, not yet." Katara said.  
"What? Are you crazy?" Sokka hissed.  
Katara looked out over the ocean, determination in her eyes, "I'm not giving up on these people."  
"What do you mean you aren't leaving?" Sokka asked again, still in disbelief.  
"We can't abandon these people! There has to be a way to help them!"  
"Maybe she's right…What do you say Sokka?" Aang said sheepishly.  
"I say you're both crazy and if Daniel were here, he'd agree with me!" Sokka snapped.  
The group ducked as a spotlight flew over their position.  
"Last chance, we need to leave NOW."  
"No!" Katara snapped.  
"I hate when you get like this." Sokka sighed, shaking his head. He looked over Katara and saw a patrol heading straight towards them, "Come on, we'd better hide."  
The three scrambled into the prison after Aang told Appa to flee.  
Appa flew off, catching the attention of the two guards.  
"Did you see that?!" One of them gasped.  
"See what?" The other asked.  
"That flying…bison…thing!"  
"Can't say that I did."  
"But it was- there- I'm telling the warden! Let's go!"  
"You talk too much." The other guard replied. With a shove, he sent his partner flying overboard into the ocean.  
Daniel looked around quickly to make sure no one saw and went on his way.


	12. Chapter 12 The Courageous Earthbenders

Chapter 12 – The Courageous Earthbenders

"We don't have much time before the guards finally discover us. What are we going to do?" Sokka asked.  
The group had taken refuge behind a wall of crates, hoping to remain unseen by the patrolling guardsmen.  
"We could make a big hurricane!" Aang whispered excitedly, summoning looks of frustration from Sokka and Katara.  
"What? The warden will get scared, run away, and we'll take his keys!"  
"Wouldn't he just take his keys with him?" Sokka pointed out.  
"Hey, I'm just throwing ideas around."  
Katara sighed, tracing a circle in the floor with her finger, "I tried talking to the Earthbenders to get them motivated, but they wouldn't budge. If only there was some way to help them want to help themselves."  
Sokka thought for a moment, "If they had some kind of earth or rock available to them, you know, something they can bend then maybe they'd get their spirits back."  
"But how? This entire place is made of metal." Katara said.  
"I have a solution."  
The group turned to see Daniel, still clad in Fire Nation armor minus the helmet.  
"You do? Well don't hesitate to share!" Sokka said.  
Daniel chuckled, "It's good to see you too. Anyway, in my patrols throughout the rig, I noticed the place burns coal for energy. If we could get this coal to the Earthbenders…"  
"Then they can use it to fight back!" Katara cried happily.  
"Indeed."  
"So how are we going to get the coal up to the Earthbenders?" Aang asked.  
Daniel shrugged, "I don't know, but I have no doubt you all will come up with something. I gotta return to my rounds before the others get suspicious. Go, and may the spirits go with you." Daniel slid his helmet back into place and snuck away.  
Aang and Katara looked at Sokka who had a look of deep thought on his face.  
"I have a plan." He announced.  
"It's almost dawn Sokka, whatever it is, it's gotta be done quickly." Katara urged.  
"I know I know. Look, here's the plan: Throughout this rig, there are vents presumably lead to wherever the coal is stored right? So, the plan is just like the one we used to get you arrested only on a larger scale. Aang will shut all the vents except the one leading to the prisoner holding yard. When he uses his Airbending, it will force all the coal out through that one open vent."  
"And you're sure that will work?" Katara asked.  
"It should. Besides, it's the only plan we have right now."  
"I say we do it." Aang agreed.  
"Okay, I'm in too." Katara spoke up.  
"Right then, let's get into positions."  
Sokka and Katara snuck into the prison yard and made their way to the vent and Aang flew up to the smoke stacks.  
"Okay, it should be coming any minute now…" Sokka said, looking down the vent.  
"There! An intruder!" A voice hollered.  
Katara and Sokka scrambled to their feet as a group of soldiers encircled them, spears readied.  
"Stay back!" Sokka barked, drawing his boomerang.  
"Katara stop!" Tyro called from the crowd, "You can't win this fight!"  
Katara was about to shout back, when she realized in great despair that Haru's face looked at her with defeated eyes, offering no support for her plight.  
"You are one mistake away from dying where you stand, girl." The warden growled.  
Just as the soldiers began to close in, they heard a rumbling from beneath them. They looked down and saw as small particles of black rock began flying from the vent. In a nick of time, the siblings had dodged the great eruption of coal that had made a sizeable pile before them. Just as the coal had finished falling, Aang burst from the vent as well, coughing the coal dust from his lung. Katara seized the moment and ran on top of the pile, scooping up a lump of coal into her hand.  
"Here's your chance, Earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!" She shouted to the crowd. Haru tried to step forward, but was halted by his father's arm. Katara watched as the Earthbenders seemed to shrink away in fear from her. She turned angrily to the warden as she hard his throaty laugh behind her.  
"Foolish girl! You thought a few inspirational words a couple lumps of coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago, but you still believe in them? How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You have failed."  
Katara looked hopelessly at the ground and slowly lowered her fist full of coal.  
The warden smirked and turned to leave. Just as he was halfway across the yard, a lump of coal flew through the air and struck him hard on the back of the head. He turned in a rage and saw Haru, spinning three lumps of coal in the air with a looked of hatred at determination on his face. The warden roared and sent a wave of fire directly at the young boy who turned his back to the inferno. He looked up again and saw a great wall of coal had intercepted the blast and was being bended by none other than his father.  
"Show no mercy!" The warden ordered as he and his Firebenders sent a wave of fire directly into the crowd. Tyro, along with a few other Earthbenders, formed another wall of coal to counteract it.  
With quivering arms Tyro roared a battle cry, "For the Earth Kingdom!"  
The wall shot forth toward the line of Firebenders in lumps. The Firebenders burnt the coal in their path away and could not stop the Earthbenders who pushed forward, slinging coal into the faces of their former oppressors.  
"I guess that's my queue." Daniel said, and with a mighty burst of fire, cleared half the wall of Firebenders flying into the ocean or the ground below. He turned and saw the other half had all turned towards him and began firing fire balls and spears towards him.  
"Classic example of biting off more than you can chew." He growled to himself as he was slowly pushed back by the onslaught. He heard a roar above him, and just in time, saw Appa as he slammed down onto the wall. With a wave of the mighty beast's tail, Daniel's attackers were sent to the same destiny as their comrades.  
Daniel smiled at the bison, "I guess I owe you twice now eh?"  
He quickly scrambled on board Appa's back and took to the skies, raining flames down on the Fire Nation soldiers below.  
Tyro and Haru bended a great pile of coal together and formed a solid boulder. With great force, they sent the boulder hurdling through the prison gates.  
"Everyone escape! We'll hold them off!" Tyro ordered and the Earthbenders began running for the hole in the wall.  
"Don't let them escape!" The warden called out. He and his Firebenders sent great streams of fire at the fleeing Earthbenders. Before the fire could reach its mark, however, it was stopped in its tracks by the quick Firebending by Daniel and counteracting air gust from Aang.  
"Let's quit playing with these creeps!" Daniel called out to Aang. In unison, they overpowered their adversaries' barrage and sent them flying, landing on their backs. The warden watched before his ground-level eyes as he and his men were swept up in a wave of coal. Tyro formed a platform from the wave and hovered it over the ocean.  
"Wait, please, I can't swim!" The warden pleaded.  
"Don't worry, I hear cowards float." Tyro replied and released control of the coal, forcing the platform to crumble and drop its occupants into the ocean.  
On the commandeered Fire Nation ships, the Earthbenders as well as the teenagers looked back over the now heavily damaged prison rig.  
Katara stood at the stern of one of the ships with Haru and Tyro, happy the experience was over and her mission was a success.  
"Katara, I wanted to say thank you for saving, for saving us." Haru said.  
Katara turned to him and smiled shyly, "All it took was a little coal." She replied, nervously rubbing the back of her head.  
"It wasn't the coal, Katara. It was you."  
"He's right Katara." Daniel said, walking up to them, "You were the catalyst of change, a force that not even the hottest fire to wear down.  
Katara blushed under the attention.  
" Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe, and as strange as it feels for me to say, thank you too, Daniel of the Fire Nation." Tyro said, placing a heavy hand on both Katara's and Haru's shoulders while still feeling somewhat distrustful of the Firebender, "My family, as well as everyone here, owes you much."  
"Just remember, there is hope. The Avatar has returned and soon everything will be set right again." Katara said confidently.  
"Exactly, your courage is not in vain, Tyro. When you return home, you can expect to stay there for a long time." Daniel agreed.  
Tyro smiled, "Yes…home. We will take back our village," He said before turning to all the ships full of Earthbenders to address them, "We will take back ALL of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they ever set foot in our land!"  
The ships erupted in cheers and roars of approval.  
"Come with us." Haru said, placing a hand on Katara's shoulder.  
"I can't. Your job is to take back your home, ours' is to get Aang to the North Pole." Katara said, looking at Aang who was playing with Momo on the back of Appa.  
"That's him isn't it? That's the Avatar." Haru observed before continuing, "Katara I want to say thank you, for rescuing me and giving my father back to me. I just wish there was some way…" His voice trailed off, Katara knew what he was about to say.  
"I know…" She sighed and reached her necklace. Her face went pale with shock as she clasped all around her neck.  
"What's wrong?" Daniel asked, alarmed.  
"My mother's necklace, it's gone!" She cried.  
"What?!" Daniel asked, panic-stricken.  
"It's not here! I must have lost it back at the rig…"  
Daniel turned toward the rig, his hands igniting, "I'll find it."  
"No, we…we have to get to the North Pole. It could be anywhere on that thing…" Katara said, trying to sound strong.  
"No, we will find it. I will find it." Daniel urged.  
Katara gave him a hug from behind attempting to calm him down and to find comfort for herself as well, "No, just don't worry okay?"  
Daniel let out a mixture of a sigh and a growl, "…Very well."  
Back at the rig, the necklace's ties blew gently in the wind. An armored hand reached down and picked it up. In his hands, Zuko found his new tool in his hunt for the Avatar.  
The group stopped one last time in Haru's village to stock up on supplies. Unbeknownst to them, across town there was a break-in. A little old man walked out of his bedroom into his living room, getting ready for his work in the mines. What he saw, he saw all too late. A black cloaked figure grabbed him and detained him in an instant.  
"Listen old man, for I am the speaker." The figure hissed.  
"I know what you did. I know your sins. You betrayed your country to the vile curs that seek to exploit you. You are a thief, a stealer of freedom. You are a murderer, slayer of happiness. For that, you must be punished."  
The old man resisted feebly as the cloaked figure revealed a ring on his finger bearing the Fire Nation insignia.  
"You betrayed the Earthbender Haru, son of Tyro. He saved you for masquerading as an innocent, helpless old man. Let your innocence forever be cleansed by the mark of those to whom you sold your soul and remember always the Black Hand."  
The elder watched in horror as the ring on the Black Hand's finger heated up to a white hot and moved to his forehead. All that was heard in that lowly home was the sound of the muffled screams of a traitor who would forever bear the Fire Nation mark, burnt into his forehead.

**Hello guys! Hope you're enjoying the story so far. I have a request for some of you artistically talented out there: Make me some cover art for the story! If you're interested, message me on here and we'll have a talk :)**


	13. Chapter 13 The Spirit World

Chapter 13 – The Spirit World

The group continued their steady pace toward the North Pole over Earth Kingdom territory. Sokka was sharpening his weapons, Aang was at the reigns, Katara looked down dreamily at the clouds below, doing the exact opposite of Daniel who had no interest looking down and showed clear signs of air sickness.  
"Look at those clouds…don't they look so soft? Like if I jumped down onto one I'd land on a big puffy cotton heap." Katara said dreamily.  
"Why don't you jump over and see for yourself?" Sokka said sarcastically.  
"Oh ha ha very funny."  
"I'll do it!" Aang announced and jumped over the side, laughing in delight.  
Katara and Sokka scrambled to the edge to watch.  
"He's back here guys." Daniel said, holding back the discomfort in his voice.  
The siblings turned around just as Aang flew up from below and landed on the saddle, soaked.  
"As it turns out, clouds are made of water." Aang said. He dried himself in an instant with a gust of air.  
Daniel sat up and started sniffing the air.  
"What's wrong Danny?" Katara asked.  
Daniel growled, "Ash." He pointed over Appa's head.  
Aang, Katara, and Sokka crawled over and looked out. On the countryside, they saw a great black jagged clearing in the forest below.  
"Whoa…it's like a scar." Sokka breathed.  
Appa landed on the scorched landscape. The group dismounted and took a look around.  
"It's so quiet…" Sokka said, scanning the burnt trees.  
Daniel's face froze in an angry expression as he started at the ground.  
"Fire Nation." He growled lowly.  
"What? Where?" Sokka asked.  
"Long gone. Look, these footprints match their armor. These larger tracks are the rhinos they use as mounts."  
Sokka kicked the dirt, "Those savages! They don't have any respect for anything they-"  
He was cut off by Katara putting a finger to her mouth, signaling quiet.  
"What I can't be angry at this?" Sokka hissed.  
Katara pointed to Aang who had fallen to his knees in the ash.  
"Aang what's wrong?" Katara asked.  
"I failed. It's the Avatar's job to protect nature and I failed." He said softly.  
"This isn't your fault."  
"Yes it is. I have no idea how to do my job right."  
"That's why we're going to the North Pole, to find you a teacher."  
"A Waterbending teacher maybe. No one can teach me to be the Avatar."  
"Surely there's some way to gain the wisdom, right?" Daniel asked.  
"Monk Gyatso told me that Avatar Roku could help me."  
"Wait, the Avatar before you? He's been dead for over a hundred years. How can you talk to him?" Sokka asked.  
Aang sighed, "I don't know."  
Katara walked away for a moment and returned holding something in her hand.  
"Ready to be cheered up?" She asked Aang.  
"No." He said sadly, still staring at the ashen ground.  
Out of nowhere, Katara threw the acorn she held in her hand and struck Aang on the side of the head.  
"Ow! How is that supposed to cheer me up?" Aang asked.  
"Don't you get it? These are seeds. The forest is going to grow back." Katara said.  
Aang sighed, "I doubt it. With all this fire, those seeds are probably dead too."  
"Not necessarily." Daniel said, "There's some knowledge spread around amongst Earth Kingdom people about these forests. Some of the types of trees actually NEED fire to reproduce. Fire activates the acorn, in a way."  
Aang looked up, "Is that true?"  
Daniel smiled and nodded, "Yes. It may be a legend, but it has in fact been proven. This seed will grow fine."  
Daniel knelt down and placed the seed in the earth in front of Aang.  
"The ash will make for excellent fertilizer, which means this generation of trees will grow back healthier and prouder than their ancestors. All it needs is a little fire…" Daniel swept a quick arm of fire on to the mound where the seed was buried.  
"…and lots of rain." Katara finished, bending droplets of water on to the mound as well.  
Aang smiled, "Thanks you guys."  
The two smiled warmly at him, but drew their attention quickly to a pathway by the sound of footsteps.  
An elderly man walked slowly over to them, his cane sinking into the bed of ash.  
"Hey! Who are you?" Sokka asked cautiously.  
"When I saw the flying bison, I didn't think it was possible. Now that I see you…those markings…are you the Avatar, child?" The old man asked Aang.  
Aang turned to Daniel who stood protectively next to him. Daniel nodded to him and Aang spoke.  
"Yes I am."  
"My village desperately needs your help." The old man said.  
The old man led the group through the woods to a small walled village. Daniel looked over the homes, some of which appeared to be heavily damaged. What surprised him, however, was that the homes did not look burned. They seemed to have been crushed as if a flying bison had crash landed into them. They walked into a large house at the farthest end of the village and noticed it seemed to be a common house, full of bedrolls and scared looking villagers.  
"This young person is the Avatar." The old man announced to the group. A middle aged man stepped out of the crowd and approached them.  
"So the rumors of your return are true. It is the greatest of honors to be in your presence." The man said to Aang.  
"It's nice to meet you too." Aang said with a smile.  
After a few moments of silence, Daniel spoke up.  
"You said there was something Aang could help you with?"  
"I don't know…" The younger man said.  
"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" The older man urged.  
The younger man finally nodded and the old man continued.  
"For the past few days, a great spirit comes and attacks our village at sunset. He is Hei Bei, the black and white spirit."  
"Why is he attacking you?" Sokka asked.  
"We do not know, but every time he attacks, he has taken one of our own. We are especially fearful because the Winter Solstice approaches."  
"What happens then?" Katara asked.  
"As a solstice draws near, the space between the natural world and the spirit world grows closer and closer until the line between them is practically blurred." The old man explained.  
"If Hei Bei is already causing massive devastation, who knows what he will be capable of when the solstice arrives."  
"So what do you want me to do?" Aang asked.  
"Who better to solve a conflict that involves our world and the spirit world than the Avatar himself? You are the great bridge between the two." The old man said hopefully.  
"Yeah…that's what I do." Aang said, unsure.  
"Hey, great bridge guy, can we talk to you for a moment?" Katara asked.  
Aang followed her over to a window where Sokka and Daniel were waiting.  
"You seem a little unsure about this." Katara pointed out.  
"It's because I am. I don't know how I can help."  
"You mean you don't know what this guy's talking about?" Sokka asked.  
"Well it's not like there's anybody to teach me this stuff!" Aang retorted.  
"Then are you going to help these people?"  
"I have to try, don't I?" Aang said.  
Daniel nodded, "It is your best bet. If you can stop this spirit, rumors of the Avatar's abilities will spread and will possibly increase moral of the Earth Kingdom. The more exploits you perform, the greater scale effect it will have on the war."  
"You really think so?" Aang asked.  
Daniel smiled, "Well hey, wouldn't you feel a little better if you had someone on your side who could negotiate with spirits?"  
Aang laughed a bit, "You have a point. But how do I do it?"  
Daniel shrugged, "I'll do some research around here. In the meantime, try to remember what Monk Gyatso taught you."  
Aang took a deep breath, "Okay, I'll do it."  
Katara and Sokka smiled warmly at him.  
"I believe in you Aang." Katara said.  
After a bit of a pause, Sokka spoke as well, "Yeah, we're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster."


	14. Author's Note

Hey guys! I want to apologize for the lack of updates. School has officially reared its ugly head and unfortunately it must take priority over my writing. I ask that you extend your patience just a bit longer for new content. **I have NOT forgotten about nor abandoned this story! **It's on my mind day and night so I assure you that the next chapter will be GORGEOUS ;)

Thanks everyone!  
-DannyFirebender


	15. Chapter 14 Hei Bei

Chapter 14 – Hei Bei

"This isn't right. He shouldn't have to face that thing all by himself." Sokka said, watching as Aang walked out into the deserted streets of the town.  
"Don't worry Sokka. I'm sure he'll be fine." Katara replied, although with a bit of an unsure tone herself.  
Aang walked down the long stretch of road to the town gates and scanned the area.  
"Hello? Spirit?" He called nervously.  
He stopped at the edge of the town and looked up as the sun set and afternoon turned to dusk.  
"It's sunset, where are you Hei Bei?" He called out again.  
Aang shifted uncomfortably and searched his mind quickly. Knowing no other option, he puffed out his chest and stood up straight.  
"I am the Avatar and I hereby ask you to leave this town in peace!" Aang shouted with a swirl of his staff.  
Still no sign of the spirit.  
"Uhhh okay, well I guess that's all settled then." Aang turned around and began walking back to the common house.  
Katara wiped her brow, "It's getting kinda hot around here." She said.  
"Yeah, but where is it coming from? It was chilly just a few moments ago." Sokka replied, confused.  
"It's here." Daniel growled.  
"What's here?" Katara asked.  
She did not receive a reply. Daniel focused all his attention on the town gates.  
Katara and Sokka looked where he was staring and gasped as a great black and white monster came lumbering through the gates which were even too narrow to fit it.  
"Aang behind you!" Daniel roared.  
Aang raised an eyebrow and turned around. In that split second, he came in eye contact with the monstrosity.  
"Y-you must be the Hei Bei spirit. My name is Aang and I'm the Avata-"  
Hei Bei cut him off with a mighty roar and galloped over him, ignoring his existence completely.  
"Hey wait up!" Aang shouted, running to catch up.  
Hei Bei roared and pummeled buildings in to rubble, sending debris flying everywhere.  
Aang did his best to get the creature's attention, but nothing he did seemed to distract Hei Bei from its task.  
"The Avatar's methods are…unusual." The villager said as splintered wood hit the frame of the window the group was looking out of.  
"He needs help, he can't face that by himself." Sokka said and prepared to draw his boomerang.  
"No! Only the Avatar stands a chance against Hei Bei." The elder reasoned.  
"Aang will find a way." Katara said hopefully.  
As Hei Bei was beating down another home, Aang came up behind it on a rooftop.  
"Please talk to me, I'm trying to do my job as Spirit Bridge. Won't you please turn around?" He pleaded.  
The spirit ignored him.  
Aang felt an anger rise within him that he could not hold back.  
"I command you to turn around now!" He barked.  
Hei Bei turned quickly and with a mighty swing from its massive arm, sent Aang flying into the roof of a building, dazing him.  
"That's it, he needs help!" Sokka announced and turned to run out only to run right into Daniel's outstretched arm.  
"No. You don't have the optimal skills required to handle a situation such as this." Daniel said.  
Sokka growled angrily, "Oh and you do?" He barked.  
"We'll see eh?" Daniel said with a smirk.  
With that, Daniel ran out into the town.  
"Daniel wait!" Katara said, attempting to give chase before being stopped by the villager.  
"No it's too dangerous!"  
Daniel ran out and took a deep breath. With two punches, he sent two fireballs straight into the spirit's side. Hei Bei turned and roared viciously. Daniel felt sweat collect at his forehead and sent several more infernos at the charging spirit.  
"Daniel what are you doing?!" Aang shouted in shock.  
Daniel turned and looked at him, "See you in the Spirit World." He said just before being snatched up by the beast and carried off into the woods. Aang shook the surprise from his mind and hopped on his glider, giving chase.  
Katara and Sokka ran out of the common house along with the other villagers shouting for their friends.  
"Daniel! Aang!" They cried, but they were gone. Katara bowed her head and Sokka placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
Aang dodged and weaved through trees in the direction of the spirit. It was several yards in front of him, bounding through the forest. Aang expected to see the face of a terrified Daniel in the grasp of the beast, but instead Daniel's eyes were closed and he seemed to be meditating, oblivious to his capture. The spirit led Aang to the burned area of the forest where they had made landing just a few hours ago. Aang slowly caught up to Hei Bei, but just as he was about to jump on the spirit, the monster disappeared into thin air.  
"Wuh? Whooaa!" Aang shouted as the vanishing act threw him off course and sent him tumbling to the ashen land below at the base of a giant panda statue.  
"Daniel!" He gasped when he recovered. He glanced around quickly and noticed the sun had set entirely and the land was bathed in the dim moonlight. There was no sign of Daniel or Hei Bei anywhere.  
"I failed…" He said softly. He slowly rose to his feet and sulkily made his way back through the forest.  
Katara sat at the town gates, staring into the dark mouth of the woods. The village elder walked up behind her and placed a blanket around her shoulders.  
"It is getting late. You should get some rest. I'm sure your friend and the Avatar will return shortly. It wouldn't surprise me if the Avatar was only delayed because of his dealings with the spirit for peace." The elder said reassuringly.  
Katara sighed and drew the blanket around her, "I… Maybe you're right." She said softly.  
Aang saw the village reveal itself before him from behind the trees and approached the two.  
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stop the spirit and Daniel is still missing." Aang said, defeated.  
The two did not respond and did not even acknowledge him.  
"I just… I hope they return soon." Katara said shakily as a tear slid down her cheek.  
"Katara I'm right here! I know Daniel isn't but…" Aang stopped as he noticed they still seemed to pay him no mind.  
"Hellloooooo?" He tried again. He waved his hands in front of their faces, but noticed something that startled him: His hands were transparent.  
"I'm in the spirit world!"  
He felt a gentle breeze behind him, "Welcome." Someone said.  
Aang spun around and there he saw the red, transparent shape of Daniel.


End file.
